"Shorty" George Snowden and Big Bea

Shorty George Snowden is widely cited as one of the top dancers at the Savoy between 1926 and the early 1930s. He formed the first professional Lindy Hop troupe, the Shorty Snowden Dancers and is widely recognised for two things; the Shorty George dance step and coning the term Lindy Hop.

His famous dance step ‘The Shorty George’ – in which his bent his knees, swinging from side to side, exaggerate his closeness to the ground- is a parody of himself and his general tininess!

George was barely five feet tall. But he didn’t let that stop him. His dance partner Big Bea was huge in contrast and paired up they were considered comic dancing phenomenon. They often ended their routines in a comic move in which she carried him off the dance floor on her back.

Take a look at this clip from 1937 which shows George and Bea dancing…

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