If you feel like dancing, there’s a good reason to do so today. A Disney animator, storied jazz composer-conductor, and ’90s sitcom-great share a birthday.
The date is April 29th, Monday and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru.
Today is International Dance Day for all member countries of the United Nations. It’s a day of celebrating dance and recognizing it’s importance as a part of all cultures. The International Theatre Institute, in partnership with UNESCO holds festivals on this day to encourage participation in dance, even if you have two left feet.
Today is the birthday of animator Iwao Takamoto. He was born in 1925 in Los Angeles to first generation Japanese immigrants. As a teen during WWII, he was sent to an internment camp with his family in Manzanar, California to wait out the war. While there, he received some rudimentary lessons on drawing and animation from a few fellow internees.
With no official portfolio at the end of the war, Takamoto took a sketchbook to Disney and applied for a position as an animator. He ended up working under one of the “Nine Old Men” at Disney and was an animator and character designer for Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and 101 Dalmatians. He then moved to Hanna-Barbera productions, creating characters such as Scooby-Doo, and Astro on The Jetsons. He also became a producer while with Hanna-Barbera, overseeing and directing TV shows and a few animated films.
In 2005, after 50 years in the animation field, the Animation Guild honored him with their Golden Award. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 81, his wife of 44 years by his side.
And today is the birthday of Duke Ellington, winner of 14 Grammy, nominated for more. Duke was a major part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and ‘30s and continued to compose and conduct his jazz orchestra until his death in 1974.
Duke’s birth name was Edward Kennedy Ellington. Growing up in Washington DC, Duke’s mother Daisy made a point of surrounding young Ellington with strong polished women so that he would learn how to behave properly and with grace. As a result, his friends felt he was very dignified and gave him the nickname “Duke.”
Both of Duke’s parents played the piano and often played in the evenings. At first Duke was not thrilled about his own piano lessons, preferring baseball instead. As a young teen however, he began taking an interest in his lessons after noticing the talented pianists at the pool hall he often snuck into.
The band stayed strong through the mid-‘30s, and were able to adapt to the swing craze, though did not enjoy as much success as they had seen prior over the previous decade. A few long-time band members shuffled around during the intervening years, some leaving and coming back.
In 1956, Duke and his band saw a revival in interest after a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. They brought down the house with a rendition of “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” toward the end of the night, the evening lasting much longer than the festival organizer had intended.
As conductor, Duke rarely held a baton to direct his band. Instead he conducted from the piano, using intonations in his playing and gestures to conduct. He was also generous, sharing the spotlight with his bandmates, writing music to play up their strengths.
In addition to a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Star on the Walk of Fame, Duke was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, an Honorary Ph.D. from Berklee College of Music, a Legion of Honor from France, and a posthumous Special Pulitzer Prize.
Lastly, today is the birthday of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld is known for his TV series of the same name, the show “about nothing” that ran for nine seasons. He saw the first signs of what was to come after performing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1981 and from there performed regularly for similar late-night shows. He released a one-hour live special on HBO in 1987 and the next year teamed up with Larry David to create the eponymous show.
Seinfeld has been involved in plenty of projects since Seinfeld ended in 1998, his current project being the series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which you can find on Netflix.
Recuerdo
Edna St. Vincent Millay