When I was painting my dance pictures, my wife made me aware of Frankie Manning; he’s the greatest swing dancer of all time and it was a no-brainer to include him in my dance pictures. The picture with him was bought by a patron of ballet and hangs in her living room.
At one of her parties a young dancer told me that he loved my painting and he understood it. I thanked him and asked him what he understood. His answer was, “I know what it is to dance for a public and I know what it is to dance to forget the pain.”
