“Get on up on the dance floor.” Those words have never been truer for Jean Veloz, a retired Hollywood dance icon. Now, at 90 years old, Ms. Veloz is showing us she’s still got the moves.
The story goes:
Jean Veloz, born Jeanette Phelps, was a Hollywood dance icon from the 1930’s to the 50’s. She became the face of the Lindy dance style popular at the time, wowing audiences with a mixture of jazz, tap, the breakaway, and the Charleston. Veloz competed in a series of dance competitions with her brother when they were young. Their success eventually took them to the bright lights of Los Angeles, where Veloz won a Screen Actors Guild membership card and a cameo in the movie
Swing Fever after entering and winning a competition.
Then came Jean’s biggest break yet.
Though Jean was making a name for herself, Yolanda and Frank Veloz were the biggest names in the world of dance at the time. But Yolanda was forced into retirement in 1948 and Frank needed a new partner. As a student at one of Veloz’s dance studios, Frank had noticed Jeanette Phelps and soon, he had his new partner. The two would eventually marry and remained a dance couple until Frank’s death in 1981. At the time, Jean decided to retire.
Jean has continued to dance here and there, but her recent 90
th birthday party shows that with Ms. Veloz, even after all these years, old habits die hard.
“Get on up on the dance floor.” Those words have never been truer for Jean Veloz, a retired Hollywood dance icon. Now, at 90 years old, Ms. Veloz is showing us she’s still got the moves.
Though Jean was making a name for herself, Yolanda and Frank Veloz were the biggest names in the world of dance at the time. But Yolanda was forced into retirement in 1948 and Frank needed a new partner. As a student at one of Veloz’s dance studios, Frank had noticed Jeanette Phelps and soon, he had his new partner. The two would eventually marry and remained a dance couple until Frank’s death in 1981. At the time, Jean decided to retire.
Jean has continued to dance here and there, but her recent 90th birthday party shows that with Ms. Veloz, even after all these years, old habits die hard.
