Norma Miller

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Norma Miller (born December 2, 1919 in Harlem, New York) is an American swing dancer known to many people as The Queen of Swing. She was interviewed along with dance partner Frankie Manning in Ken Burns documentary "Jazz". Discussing the early days of swing dancing, Norma describes the start of her dancing career at the Savoy Ballroom (which was just across street from where she lived) during the early 30s in Harlem. Discovered at the age of twelve by the Savoy Ballroom's legendary dancer Twist Mouth George, Ms. Miller has been in show business ever since.

Norma was a member of the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. The author of several books, Norma Miller's latest book, "Swing Baby Swing" chronicles the evolution of the swing culture into the 21st century. Norma Miller's biography, "Swingin' at the Savoy": A Memoir of a Jazz Dancer, recollects her youthful encounters with Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Ethel Waters and other jazz legends.

Honored with a 2003 National Heritage Foundation Fellowship from the National Endowments of the Arts for her role in creating and continuing to preserve “the acrobatic style swing dance, known as the Lindy Hop,” Ms. Miller (at a young 85 years of age) continues to be an inspiration to all who know her.

In addition, Norma Miller has been featured performing in a string of movies including some of the most viewed vintage movies by Lindy Hoppers and swing dancers worldwide, the Marx Brother's A Day at the Races (1937) and Hellzapoppin' (1941); Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992); Stompin' at the Savoy (1992), John Biffar's Captiva (1995), along with documentaries such as the National Geographic's Jitterbug (1991) and the Smithsonian Jazz series on NPR.

In the 1960s, Norma Miller began working with Redd Foxx at his comedy club and later joined him on the 1970s television series, Sanford and Son, serving as a stand up comic, actor and choreographer. In Ken Burn's documentary Jazz (2001) Norma's recollections provide a first hand account of the Harlem music and dance scene in the 1930s and 40s.

Since her time at the Savoy Ballroom Norma has also worked on film and TV with the likes of Richard Prior, Bill Cosby, and Ella Fitzgerald, to name a few.

Her latest documentary "Queen of Swing", narrated by Bill Cobbs, takes an inside look at Norma Miller's influence in the globalization of America's jazz culture and her and her fellow artist's role in racial integration. The documentary features interviews with Bill Cosby, Bill Cobbs, Frankie Manning and the late Leonard Reed.