Dean Collins was an American dancer, instructor, choreographer, and innovator of swing dance. He is often credited with bringing the Lindy Hop from New York to southern California. Collins worked in over thirty films and performed live and on television.
Biography
He grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and at age 13 learned to dance from his two older sisters. He participated in amateur dance contests in New Jersey. He danced at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York. In 1935, he was named Dancer of the Year by The New Yorker magazine. Collins moved to Los Angeles in 1936. During the day he worked as a janitor at Simon's Drive-In Diner, and at night he danced at the Diana Ballroom and Casino Gardens. Worried that his Jewish name would hinder his career, he adopted the name "Dean Collins" from a wallet he found. His career began when he was hired by RKO pictures to choreograph the dancing in Let's Make Music, a movie filmed in 1939 and released in 1940. In 1942 he appeared in the SoundiesThe Chool Song released March 23, 1942. He and his partner were billed "Collins and Colette", and music was recorded by Spike Jones. He danced in or choreographed nearly forty Hollywood movies, including an appearance in Hellzapoppin'. In the 1950s and 1960s, he taught swing dancing in Los Angeles. His students included Shirley Temple, Joan Crawford, Cesar Romero, Abbott and Costello, Jonathan Bixby, Sylvia Sykes, and Arthur Murray. Collins' wife, Mary, believes that he contributed a smoothed out style that eliminated the bounce. According to jazz dance researcher Peter Loggins, Dean's style changed over decades, returning toward the end of his life to the Lindy Hop he learned in the Savoy Ballroom in the 1930s. The Collins style seen in Hollywood films was the source for what became known in the 1990s as Hollywood-style Lindy Hop. He created a version of the Shim Sham which was meant as a three man performance and was not taught or shared. Jack Arkin and Johnny Mattox were the performers with Collins. Later, Bobby Hefner and Bart Bartolo performed it as well. Jewel McGowan, who was called by her contemporaries the "greatest female swing dancer", was his dance partner for eleven years. She appeared with him in Buck Privates and Ride 'Em Cowboy.
