Skippy Blair

{{Short description|American ballroom dancer (1924–2021)}}

Skippy Blair (March 15, 1924 – June 30, 2021)[https://www.rosehills.com/obituaries/whittier-ca/skippy-blair-10252139 Skippy Blair obituary] was an American ballroom dancer credited with popularizing "West Coast Swing."{{cite book|last=Kassing|first=Gayle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lLoTsT2X5EC&pg=PA262|title=History of Dance: An Interactive Arts Approach|year=2007|page=262|publisher=Human Kinetics|isbn=978-0-73606-035-6|via=Google Books|access-date=May 11, 2016}} Blair was a member of a group that successfully lobbied the State Legislature in 1988 to have West Coast Swing designated as the official State Dance of California.{{Cite web |title=Who is Skippy Blair? |url=https://www.westcoastswingonline.com/skippy/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=West Coast Swing Online |language=en-US}} She was also the founder of the Golden State Dance Teachers Association{{cite book|last1=Stevens|first1=Tamara|last2=Stevens|first2=Erin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sk1PMHxRHAgC|title=Swing Dancing|year=2011|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-37517-0|via=Google Books|access-date=May 11, 2016}} and a co-founder of the World Swing Dance Council.{{cite web|last=Bekkache|first=Carine|url=http://archives.varmatin.com/frejus/dossier-quelle-danse-vous-sied-au-pied-dans-lagglomeration-raphaeloise.2100684.html|title=DOSSIER. Quelle danse vous sied au pied dans l'agglomération raphaëloise?|date=April 3, 2015|language=fr|trans-title=FOLDER. What suits you dance in front in raphaëloise agglomeration?|website=Var-Matin}}[https://www.worldsdc.com/hall-of-fame/skippy-blair-1994/ "Skippy Blair"], National Swing Dance Hall of Fame webpage

Blair danced in the 1975 film Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.

In 1994, she was inducted into the National Swing Dance Hall of Fame. Her students include US Open champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGQzWKlY-ZQ Tribute to Skippy Blair with statements by both dancers attesting to Skippy as their teacher retrieved 9.2016

Blair created the Universal Unit System, a complete system of dance notation that allows dancers to "read" a dance much like musicians read music.