Art Form: Lindy hop and swing dance

Location(s): Highland Park (Wayne County)

Paulette Brockington

Portrait of Paulette Brockington

Accomplished dancer, choreographer, stage director, teacher, and performing artist Paulette Brockington is honored with a Michigan Heritage Award for her dedication to the Lindy Hop as a traditional American swing dance. Born and raised in Detroit, Paulette studied at Detroit City Dance Company in the 1980s and later studied art and dance at University of Michigan. Paulette learned the Lindy Hop from its chief orchestrator, Frankie Manning, a National Heritage Fellowship awardee, in 1992 and 1993, in private lessons. She later partnered with him on workshops from the Great Lakes to Washington, D.C.

Inspired by Manning and the Lindy Hop, in 1998 Paulette produced the first American Lindy Hop Championships, which continues to this day. As the driving force behind the Lindy Hop, Paulette spearheads and produces Lindy Hop and swing dance events and competitions in Michigan and throughout the U.S. She is a much sought-after swing dance history scholar, consults on production companies, works as an assistant professor at Marygrove College, and choreographs for Dance Detroit and her own “A Company of Dancers.” Through artist residencies and her tireless devotion to teaching and promoting the Lindy Hop and swing dance on national and international levels, Paulette Brockington is a fixture on the Great Lakes swing scene.