Not only does Benji Schwimmer think that he can dance. So does America. The 22-year-old Redlands man is a finalist on the nationally broadcast Fox television program "So You Think You Can Dance." Whether it’s the waltz, jazz, hip-hop or mastering the mambo, Schwimmer has been dazzling the judges. He also has remained enough of a fan favorite to stay alive in the competition that borrows from the "American Idol" format of relying on viewers’ votes."Somebody in the audience held up a sign that read ‘I.E. Pride,’ " Schwimmer said in a telephone interview this week. "I was jumping up and down. I gotta represent the 9-oh-9 and the 9-5-1." Schwimmer started dancing at age 3 and now specializes in West Coast swing, just like his father, Buddy "The King of Swing" Schwimmer.Buddy and Laurie Schwimmer, Benji’s mother, teach West Coast swing at their 5678 Dance Studio in Redlands. Benji Schwimmer is so good at swing dancing that he once earned an invite to teach Kathie Lee Gifford, former co-host of the ABC morning talk show "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee."On "So You Think You Can Dance," Schwimmer is the one with the smile from here to Santa Monica.He pulled off a mambo routine with long-time partner and cousin, Heidi Groskreutz, 24, that wowed the judges. It started with a doughnut drop that resembled a man weightlifting, with Groskreutz representing the weights. "Magnificent!" said a beaming Nigel Lythgoe, the judge with the British accent. Lythgoe said the Schwimmer-Groskreutz performance was an example of why the Fox show received almost 8 million viewers the previous week. He also called it the best performance of the night.Choreographer and judge Mary Murphy criticized the couple in jest, saying that the number didn’t have enough spins. She said she counted 98 spin moves — but it should have had 100. Then she said: "No (other) two dancers on this show could have done that number."And judge Dan Karaty called the two the most refined dancers."This is the most professional routine," Karaty said after the mambo. "You leave nothing to criticize."
Schwimmer, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who served at a Mexican orphanage for two years while on his mission, said he is humbled by the praise."More than anything, whatever I’ve achieved is given to me by the man upstairs," Schwimmer said.Buddy Schwimmer said he believes his son can win it all.He said he was scheduled to be a choreographer for the program but told Lythgoe that his son was trying out and he worried that there could be a conflict of interest.Lythgoe said that there shouldn’t be a problem and noted that the show is drawing thousands of tryouts, Schwimmer said."I told him, ‘You don’t know my son.’ "Sure enough, Benji made the cut, and the elder Schwimmer had to back away from the choreography commitment. Even more so than all his son’s dance moves, Buddy Schwimmer said he is proud of his son for something else. "He’s out there having a good time," Schwimmer said. "He makes the people have a good time, and that’s the important thing. They all enjoy him as a person."
The Press Enterprise (Story) and Benji’s MySpace fanpage (photo)
I did not know that his dad could’ve been one of the choreographers on the show. I guess he will do SYTYCD 3. In the meantime, go Benji!
