Robert "Bobby" Banas (born 22 September 1933) is an American dancer
and actor. He is known for his work on movies such as West Side Story
(1961), Always (1989) and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), as
well as a 1963 televised performance of the dance (which he also
choreographed) for the Shirley Ellis song, "Nitty Gritty," which has
accumulated over 9.3 million views since the video was published on
YouTube.Banas said he began to dance at age five. “I would
immediately run and stand in a doorway pretending it was a frame for a
small stage. I then would jive, moving my body to and fro, trying to
keep up with the beat of the music, knowing that when the music would
crescendo I’d leap in the air defying gravity, only to land in a
heap. I’d pick myself up and start it all over again. I just
couldn’t sit still when I’d hear those big bands: Tommy Dorsey,
Ray Anthony, Count Basie, Les Brown and Stan Kenton.†During the war,
his father became a Military Chief Inspector for the steel mills in
McKeesport, Pennsylvania, while his mother became a propeller
inspector for Curtiss-Wright in Erie.In 1942, his father arranged
ballroom dance lessons for Banas and his sister, Faith. “I was on
the move trying different lifts with Sis and we had so much fun; at
times we couldn’t stop laughing. I just couldn’t stop. I had the
music in me and had to move or explode.†Natalie Wood was his
dancing partner in the Michael Panaieff Children’s’ Ballet
Company, to which he received a scholarship and in which Jill St. John
and Stefanie Powers were members. Banas also attended the Hollywood
Professional School. He auditioned for the production of Carousel at
the LA Civic Light Opera and was cast as Enoch Snow Jr. After that, he
appeared in stage productions of Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun,
Brigadoon, Plain and Fancy, and Peter Pan.
and actor. He is known for his work on movies such as West Side Story
(1961), Always (1989) and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), as
well as a 1963 televised performance of the dance (which he also
choreographed) for the Shirley Ellis song, "Nitty Gritty," which has
accumulated over 9.3 million views since the video was published on
YouTube.Banas said he began to dance at age five. “I would
immediately run and stand in a doorway pretending it was a frame for a
small stage. I then would jive, moving my body to and fro, trying to
keep up with the beat of the music, knowing that when the music would
crescendo I’d leap in the air defying gravity, only to land in a
heap. I’d pick myself up and start it all over again. I just
couldn’t sit still when I’d hear those big bands: Tommy Dorsey,
Ray Anthony, Count Basie, Les Brown and Stan Kenton.†During the war,
his father became a Military Chief Inspector for the steel mills in
McKeesport, Pennsylvania, while his mother became a propeller
inspector for Curtiss-Wright in Erie.In 1942, his father arranged
ballroom dance lessons for Banas and his sister, Faith. “I was on
the move trying different lifts with Sis and we had so much fun; at
times we couldn’t stop laughing. I just couldn’t stop. I had the
music in me and had to move or explode.†Natalie Wood was his
dancing partner in the Michael Panaieff Children’s’ Ballet
Company, to which he received a scholarship and in which Jill St. John
and Stefanie Powers were members. Banas also attended the Hollywood
Professional School. He auditioned for the production of Carousel at
the LA Civic Light Opera and was cast as Enoch Snow Jr. After that, he
appeared in stage productions of Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun,
Brigadoon, Plain and Fancy, and Peter Pan.
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