ABOUT
"She's simply five degrees above spectacular"
Page Cavanaugh
Jazz Legend, 1922-2008
"Rusty is the world's go to person for the vintage dance scene, very knowledgeable, and so adorable and approachable at the same time.
She is my hero!"
Jane Guy
Owner, Glamour Puss Tap Academy
Rusty Frank is a Tap Dancer and Lindy Hopper, producer, choreographer, writer, and dance preservationist. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book TAP! The Greatest Tap Dance Stars and Their Stories 1900-1955, the producer and choreographer of the stage revues "Swingin' The Century - The Big Band Show" and "Jazz Tap." Rusty is the producer of the in-production documentary, "TAP! Tempo of America" (recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant).
Rusty began dancing at age six and entered the dance profession in her early 20s. She has taught and performed in twenty-three countries around the world and performed at such locales as Broadway's 42nd Street, The Hollywood Bowl, Disneyland, and the Derby.
She has the longest running Lindy Hop program in Los Angeles: Since 1998, Rusty's Lindy By The Sea dance school (El Segundo, California) has been offering group and private classes in Swing Dance, Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Charleston, and Rusty's Rhythm Club swing dance in Playa Del Rey, California, is one of the few clubs in the nation regularly featuring an evening of dancing to live bands.
HONORS
showing their Swing Dance Hall Of Fame pendants
As a result of her ongoing dance preservation work, Rusty Frank is the recipient of "The Tap Dance Preservation Award" from New York's American Tap Dance Foundation (2008), Tradition In Tap's award for Outstanding Achievements and Significant Contribution to the Art and Tradition of Tap Dance (2007), The Historic Preservation Award from The Art Deco Society of California (2002), The Soul of Shipley Award from the National Association of Dance & Affiliated Artists (1992), and "Dance In Action" award for Contribution in Dance (1991).
In 2008 & 2015, Rusty received the two highest honors possible in the Swing Dance world when she was inducted into The California Swing Dance Hall of Fame (2008), where her name now resides among such luminaries as Jean Veloz, Hal Takier, Irene Thomas, and Ray Hirsch, and in 2015 when she was inducted into the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame.
In January 2023, Rusty received the honor of being inducted into Living VIP status at Hollywood Forever.
DANCE PRESERVATIONIST
Rusty conducted seven interviews for the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program, is a contributing author in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Dance, the Danish National Encyclopedia, Jazz: The First Century, Discover Jazz, and The American National Biography. She was a part of "The Women of Tap" series at the Smithsonian.
DOCUMENTARIES
Rusty has appeared in many dance documentaries, including the BBC's "Fascinating Rhythms - The Story of Tap," Warner Home Video's "Astaire-Rogers" Box Set documentary, Bravo's "This Joint Is Jumpin'," and the 2016 swing dance documentary, "Alive and Kicking."
TAP DANCER
Rusty began her dancing career at the tender age of six, when she saw her first Shirley Temple movie ("I wanna do that!"). She started with tap dancing, studying with many of the great tap masters, including her mentor, Louis DaPron, as well as Fayard Nicholas, Brenda Bufalino, Steve Condos, Gene Nelson, Miriam Nelson, LaVaughn Robinson, Bob Scheerer, Lou Wills, Jr., Leonard Reed, Dorothy Toy, Glenn Turnbull, Katherine Hopkins Nicholas, and Jon Zerby.
She has tap danced professionally over the years with The San Francisco Tap Troupe, Six Feet (Wayne Doba, Rodney Price), Pedal Extremities (Walter Freeman, Mark Mendonca, Michael Rainey), Tapology (Patti Meagher), The Rhythm Rascals (Walter Freeman), Mulligan and Whitmore "Tops in Taps" (Chester Whitmore), The Rhythm Pals (Alfred Desio), Simon Selmon with The Herb Miller Orchestra, Miriam Nelson, Greg Gast, Ray Hesselink,Mark Marchillo, Betty de la Torre, and Richard Kuller.
MUSICAL THEATER
Rusty has appeared in featured roles in many musical theater productions, including "42nd Street," "Babes In Arms," "Dames at Sea," "Gypsy," "Sneak Preview," "Stepping Out," "5, 6, 7, 8," and "Mack & Mabel."
LINDY HOPPER
In 1996, Rusty added another great American dance to her repertoire -- Lindy Hop, also known as Jitterbug or Swing Dance when she saw The Jiving Lindy Hoppers ("I wanna do that!").
SIMON & RUSTY
She moved to the United Kingdom for two years and partnered with world-renowned English Lindy Hopper Simon Selmon, together making numerous television, movie, radio, festival, and special event appearances. The highlight for the team included a fifty-one city European tour as the specialty dance act for the big band stage show "In The Mood - A Tribute to Glenn Miller," featuring The Herb Miller Orchestra (Glenn's younger brother!)
RUSTY'S RHYTHM CLUB & LINDY BY THE SEA
RUSTY & PETER ~ SWING SHIFT
Rusty returned to the United States in 1998, making her home in Southern California. She teamed up with Peter Flahiff, in the act "Rusty & Peter - Swing Shift" from 1998-2002, founding the swing dance school, "Lindy by the Sea," and the weekly dance, "The Rhythm Club."
RON CAMPBELL, GIOVANNI QUINTERO, TED STANLEY
In 2003, the club was renamed "Rusty's Rhythm Club," and Lindy By The Sea teachers have since included Ron Campbell (2003-present), Giovanni Quintero (2003-2014), and Ted Stanley (2014-present).
And, drum roll please, in 2021, Ron Campbell became full partner in the business of Lindy by the Sea and Rusty's Rhythm Club.
PRODUCER/CHOREOGRAPHER
In 1989, 1990, and 1991, Rusty produced, directed, and appeared in the sellout all-star tap revue "Jazz Tap"! featuring the Nicholas Brothers, Savion Glover, Jeni LeGon, Arthur Duncan, and Brenda Bufalino.
In 2000, Rusty, together with composer, arranger, band leader Bill Elliott, produced the stage musical revue "Swingin' The Century - The Big Band Show" featuring the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra and Rusty's performance team "The Jitterbugs". The sell-out show was re-staged in 2001.
Her choreography credits include productions on stage, film, and niteclubs. She choreographed swing dance sequences for the Fox television show "Quintuplets"'s episode "Swing Swing Swing."
Her associated choreographies to "Jeep Jockey Jump" and "Shout and Feel It"* have entered into the staples of swing dancer routines throughout the world along with the historic Shim Sham, Lindy Chorus, and California Routine.
In 2016, Rusty was featured with legendary 1940s Lindy Hopper, Jean Veloz, and Steve Conrad on The Bachelorette; The three choreographed a swing dance "date." In 2017, Rusty Frank, Steve Conrad, and Joel Plys recreated Jean Veloz' iconic "One Girl And Two Boys" dance for Jean to dance at age 93 on "Steve Harvey's Forever Young." This dance was then presented in full at Camp Hollywood.
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Rusty is a highly sought after teacher of Tap, Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Charleston at international dance camps, including the Herrang Dance Camp, Sweden; Boogie Baren's, Germany; Perth Hullabaloo, Australia, Dance Explosion, Norway; Russia's first Lindy Hop Festival, London Lindy Hop Festival, England; Mainz Dance Camp, Germany; International Tap Dance Camp, Finland; Tappin', in Scotland & SEAJam in Thailand, and special workshops in China, Norway, and Belgium; and nationally at Swing Camp Catalina, California; Harvest Moon Swing Out, California; Flying Home; Washington, DC; Detroit Tap Festival; the St. Louis Tap Festival; Tap City and Tradition In Tap, New York; The Groovie Movie Weekend, Washington D.C.: Swing Dance U.S. A., Florida, and The Roaring Twenties Street Jam, California; Tap for Joy, Washington; Tap In, Berkeley, California, and The Utah Tap Festival, Alpine, Utah.
DANCE BANDS
Rusty has worked with many of the new swing bands, including Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra, The Jive Aces, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, The Esquires Orchestra, The Jonathan Stout Orchestra, Mora's Modern Rhythmists, The Campus Five, The Johnny Crawford Orchestra, Jumpin' Joz, to name a few.
SWING MUSICIAN
Rusty takes pride in playing the prestigious cowbell with The Fabulous Esquires Swing Orchestra for "In The Mood" and "Pennsylvania 6-5000."
EVENT PRODUCER
L-R Rusty Frank, Chuck Saggau, Irene Thomas, Jean Veloz, Hilary Alexander
A Tribute To The Groovie Movie
Rusty has produced many major events in Los Angeles: Her "Decade of Dance," "Platinum Jubilee," ""Rusty's Jitterbug Jubilee,"celebrating the anniversaries of her Lindy by the Sea school and Rusty's Rhythm Club dances), A Night at the Hollywood Canteen, and, along with Hilary Alexander, "A Tribute to the Groovie Movie, 2010" (pictured above with the then three surviving dancers from the 1944 short film Groovie Movie).
RECORDING ARTIST
One of Rusty's dreams came true, when she joined the legion of tap dancers to record. Rusty's taps and background singing can be found on the Jive Aces' "Singin' In The Rain."
COMPETITION
Though not a dance competitor by nature, Rusty is quite proud of winning First Place in the "Intergenerational" competition at National Jitterbug Competition 2007. She and her partner were the youngest team to win in the 10-year history of the competition.
Rusty's Lindy by the Sea student school team began competing in the Team division at Camp Hollywood, and their delightful routines have been entertaining the attendees and judges ever since. The team, Rusty's Rhythm Rascals, appeared for the first time in 2016 with their Balboa That Man routine, placed 5th in 2017 with their "La La Land" routine, and 2nd (out of 14 teams!) in 2018 with their "Bananaphone" routine, in 2019 with their "Where Did You Learn To Dance" routine, and during 2020 Pandemic Lockdown "Secret Agent Man."
PROFESSIONAL DANCERS SOCIETY
Rusty is an emeritus board member of The Professional Dancers Society (with a mission statement "Dancers helping Dancers"), and The Academy of Dance on Film.
ON TAP - INSTRUCTIONAL TAP AND LINDY DVDS
Rusty owns and operates Rusty's Let's Dance - On Tap! through which she promotes dance productions, offers special dance workshops, presents historical programs, and markets dance supplies. Rusty is the creator and producer of the "Tapping With The Masters" instructional tap dance video series, which includes "Leonard Reed's Shim Sham Shimmy" and "Eddie Brown's B.S. Chorus." She is also the producer of a line of instructional swing dance Lindy Hop videos, including "Lindy Hop Levels 1, 2, & 3," "The Track Series" (with Ron Campbell), and "Legends of Swing Jean Veloz & Ray Phelps." You may find information on her products HERE.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Rusty has a special passion for showing the uplifting aspect of dance on the human spirit. Her original educational programs demonstrate this.
BARBED WIRE TO BOOGIE WOOGIE - SWING MUSIC AND DANCE IN THE WWII JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT CAMPS
In 2018, Rusty produced "Barbed Wire To Boogie Woogie," a program featuring two Japanese American Internment Camp survivors, June Berk and Takayo Fischer (who met at the age of 10 while incarcerated with their families in Rohwer, Arkansas Concentration Camp during WWII). The program centered on their personal experiences including how swing music and dances lifted the spirits of the prisoners during those troubled years.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH PROGRAM
"Steppin' Out -- Dancers Breaking Down The Color Line" is an educational program Rusty created in 2007. This dynamic program brings to life the important force for change that dancers from the 1910's-1940's brought about in breaking down the color barrier in the United States. The program features exciting historic dance clips, live dance performances of Tap Dance & Lindy Hop, and student participation. If you know of a school that might be interested in booking this program, or would like to learn more about it yoursef, click HERE.
MENTORS
In the world of Lindy Hop, Rusty counts amongst her teachers and inspirations: Jean Veloz, Ray Phelps, Irene Thomas, Jewell McGowen, Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Louise Thwaite, The Rhythm Hot Shots, Betty Wood, and Barbara Rice and Sam Militello.
She currently studies vintage jazz dance with legendary Broadway dancers, jazz dancers, and choreographers Walter Painter and Charlene Painter.
ROSIE!
In 2014, Rusty appeared as Rosie The Riveter in the Opening Ceremonies of the Rose Parade, watched by 400,000,000 people around the world. Who knew that was on her Bucket List; apparently so! ( See it here )
This was more than a dream to be in The Rose Parade... read about it here: "Rusty's Rosie The Riveter Story: From Broken Neck to Rose Parade"EDUCATION
Rusty received Double Honors in Environmental Studies and Public Policy from the University of California Santa Cruz (yes, she's a proud Banana Slug), and a graduate degree from The University of San Francisco in Non-Profit Administration.
SPECIAL HONOR
Of all her honors and education, she is most proud of graduating Summa Cum Laude from The Laurie Gordon Charm School, with emphasis on Posing, Charm, Etiquette, Manners, Kindness, and Giving.
SHOES?
And, yes, Rusty has a lot of dance shoes!
Rusty Frank may be reached by phone at
(657) 549-0445 or email: info@rustyfrank.com
* "Jeep Jockey Jump" was choreographed in 1998 by Rusty Frank, Sylvia Skylar, Erik Robison, and Peter Flahiff, and "Shout and Feel It" was choreographed in 1998 by Rusty Frank & Sylvia Skylar.
INTERVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Visit this page to see TV spots, read interviews, and hear radio interviews about Rusty and her dance school and club.