Benji Schwimmer[Wikipedia article]

Benjamin "Benji" Daniel Schwimmer is an American professional dancer, choreographer and actor. On August 16, 2006 he was announced as the winner of the second season of So You Think You Can Dance and has choreographed for both the U.S. and the international versions of the show. He co-starred in the 2010 film Leading Ladies. Schwimmer is known for his versatility in mixing the arts of solo dance and partnering. He works for the non-profit group, Dancers Everywhere Making a Needed Difference (D.E.M.A.N.D), and is the songwriter, producer, and vocalist for pop-rock band The Weekend Forecast, who are signed with Executive Music Group. Biography Schwimmer was born on January 18, 1984 in Newport Beach, California, and grew up in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) household in Moreno Valley, California. He is the son of choreographer and West Coast Swing dancer Buddy Schwimmer. His mother, Laurie Schwimmer, and sister, Lacey Schwimmer, are also west-coast swing dancers. He started competing when he was five years old. Some of his early experiences included singing and dancing in "Sunshine Magic", a children's troupe. He attended high school in both Moreno Valley (Valley View) and Redlands but then transferred to independent study because of his pursuit of dance. He finished his studies early, and then taught dance for one semester at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa. Schwimmer and his cousin, Heidi Groskreutz, (the fourth finalist on the same season of So You Think You Can Dance), are also U.S. Open Showcase Swing champions in west-coast style. Schwimmer put dancing on hold to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. He returned afterwards to the dance circuit. He founded D.E.M.A.N.D., a non-profit organization that helps the less fortunate and provides health care for dancers with HIV/AIDS and other illness, and is a co-owner of 5678 Dance Studio in Redlands. Schwimmer is also openly gay. He left the LDS church in 2011 due in part to the church's position on not allowing homosexuals to work with youth. He came out publicly in 2012 after struggling with his homosexuality for a number of years. The catalyst for his decision was the death by suicide of three gay friends. So You Think You Can Dance 2006 After returning to the United States from Mexico, Schwimmer learned that his girlfriend had broken up with him. He stated on the show that he had learned about this when he saw that his name was not on her wedding invitation, and he promptly returned to dancing. He was shown a video of the performance of Nick Lazzarini, the 2005 winner of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD), and decided that he would audition for the 2006 season of the show, eventually placing among top 10 finalists. Schwimmer and his first dance partner, Donyelle Jones, successfully competed through the entire first part of the season without ever being in the bottom three. Both made it to the top four. Schwimmer was named the winner on August 16, 2006. The prizes for winning the competition included a car, a one-year contract to perform in Celine Dion's Las Vegas show, and $100,000 USD. However, in an interview for Seattle Times, Schwimmer stated that he had turned down the Dion contract. The following year, Schwimmer was invited to perform on the opening of season three and to become the first SYTYCD alumnus to choreograph on the show. His west-coast swing choreography of a high-octane number, "The Rockafeller Skank," brought both the audience and the judges to their feet. Executive producer and head judge, Nigel Lythgoe, said that the piece finally invoked the magic that was lacking in the new season. The swing piece became a crowd favorite on the national tour in 2007. After SYTYCD In 2006, Schwimmer danced on Fox's New Year's Eve show and talked about their instructional dance DVD. The next year, he played the role of the "Candyman" in Christina Aguilera's music video of the same name. When This is a synthesized speech reading of the Wikipedia article "Benji Schwimmer" and is intended primarily for blind and visually impaired individuals who can not view Wikipedia. This video can also be used for mobile users who wish to listen to Wikipedia articles on the go, or by those who wish to learn a second language by reading the captions in that language while listening in English. Original article available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benji_Schwimmer All text from Wikipedia is licensed under CC-BY-SA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reusing_Wikipedia_content "You are free ... to make commercial use of the work": http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Text-to-speech synthesized from FestVox, which permits commercial use: "no restrictions on its use (commercial or otherwise)" http://festvox.org/festival/downloads.html Note: all these licenses permit commercial use, and therefore we are permitted to monetize videos derived from these contents.