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It all began when Jean Phelps and her brother Ray made the trip from their home town of Santa Maria, California to Los Angeles for a big dance contest at the Hollywood Legion Auditorium. Avid swing dancers who made it to all the big band concerts in the Santa Barbara area, Jean and Ray won the contest—a Screen Actors Guild membership card and a role for Jean in the movie Swing Fever. Jean quickly became a devotee of Dean Collins, and eventually was featured in the 1944 MGM comedic short, Groovie Movie. A number of other young jitterbug dancers performed in this short, including Irene Thomas and Chuck Saggau. All the dancers went on to perform in other MGM films featuring swing dance, but Groovie Movie has come to be regarded as one of the best swing dance films ever produced. The recent swing dance revival has made this film essential viewing for all the new dancers as they imitate the moves, style and dress of this short film. Adam Vallus is a native of Detroit, Michigan and Irene Thomas' partner of choice. Adam is a popular instructor at many national dance weekends. As a competitor, he holds titles from many competitions, including 2001, 2002 and 2003 Camp Hollywood, 2003 All Balboa Weekend and 2004 Motor City Jam Tom and Debra are honored to have Jean, Irene, Chuck, Ray and Adam with us for this special weekend. Their presence lends a note of grace and history to the fun, as well as a valuable window into the way swing was done back "in the day." Back to TOP ^ Overview | At-a-glance calendar | Special evening dances | About our dance stars | Venues and directions | Related websites |
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