{"id":1533,"date":"2013-08-02T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1533"},"modified":"2015-01-08T18:07:27","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T23:07:27","slug":"lynn-swann-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/08\/02\/lynn-swann-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynn Swann Lake?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Peter <\/a>
Peter Martins of the New York City Ballet preparing for the Omnibus show on ABC, where Swann appeared with Gene Kelly, June 1980 (Credit Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lynn <\/a>
Lynn Swann and student from Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, Oct. 1980 (Photo by Gustavo Lago, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Ed Bouchette\u2019s Monday story about Steve McLendon<\/a>, the Steelers\u2019 6-foot-4-inch, 320-pound raging bull of a nose tackle, who uses ballet training to improve his fitness and agility, certainly paints a picture.<\/p>\n

As Bouchette wrote, football players have used ballet for decades as an alternative training method, and the most famous early example was another Steeler: Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann.<\/p>\n

If Swann was said to have the grace of a dancer while on the football field \u2013 think of his game MVP-earning catches against Dallas in Super Bowl X<\/a> \u2013 that wasn\u2019t merely a metaphor. He said he\u2019d studied tap, jazz and modern dance for 14 years while growing up in Los Angeles. NFL Films once dubbed him \u201cBaryshnikov in cleats\u201d and he once taught Mr. Rogers about ballet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An article in The Pittsburgh Press on June 15, 1980,\u00a0<\/a>previewed an ABC special called \u201cOmnibus\u201d (a revival of a 1950s cultural arts program of the same name), which featured Swann dancing with Peter Martins of the New York City ballet in a piece called \u201cDance and the Wide Receiver\u201d choreographed by dance luminary Twyla Tharp. He also tap-danced with legendary Pittsburgh native Gene Kelly.<\/p>\n

According to The Pittsburgh Press, \u201cAlthough he admits wanting to dance \u2018like Gene Kelly or Sammy Davis Jr.,\u2019 Swann says, \u2018I never saw myself in ballet.\u2019 He found the translation of football plays to ballet exhilarating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter acts as the defense and I\u2019m the offense,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s Twyla, who\u2019s another offensive player. I wish I had to go against Twyla every afternoon. Of course, I would be a lot more gentle on her.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Without the encumbrance of gridiron gear, Swann found he could leap higher and move better.”<\/p>\n

Swann did note one key difference between the two: \u201c\u2026 there isn\u2019t the immediate expectation of being hit by someone \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Bouchette wrote, football players have used ballet for decades as an alternative training method.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesLynn Swann Lake?<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[976,1030,1035,1044],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-17-at-12.36.24-AM.png?fit=1498%2C832&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9640,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2019\/11\/08\/a-dynastys-final-chapter-remembering-super-bowl-xiv\/","url_meta":{"origin":1533,"position":0},"title":"A dynasty’s final chapter: Remembering Super Bowl XIV","date":"November 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In sports, you never know when a dynasty is going to end. Just ask the 2018 Golden State Warriors, who most likely never thought they'd go from three NBA titles in five years to a likely lottery team this season. The Steelers probably felt similarly heading into Super Bowl XIV\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Terry.jpg?fit=1200%2C1016&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2202,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/17\/may-28-1974-steelers-coach-chuck-noll-and-his\/","url_meta":{"origin":1533,"position":1},"title":"Steelers coach Chuck Noll and his four quarterbacks","date":"December 17, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This picture oozes a definite \u201970s vibe.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_mf141cqNVZ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1556,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/07\/26\/steelers-training-camp-through-the-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":1533,"position":2},"title":"Steelers training camp through the years","date":"July 26, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This photo-op is as sure of a sign of late July in Western Pennsylvania as humidity and thunderstorms.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tumblr_mqi0tqht1d1rr5swxo3_r1_500-e1418794350262.jpg?fit=454%2C265&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1865,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/04\/19\/steelers-draft-terry-bradshaw\/","url_meta":{"origin":1533,"position":3},"title":"Steelers draft Terry Bradshaw","date":"April 19, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It is hardly a stretch to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers owe everything to a coin flip.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/tumblr_mlgl23yTgo1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C813&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8693,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/05\/22\/great-moments-in-pittsburgh-sports-history-1970-1989\/","url_meta":{"origin":1533,"position":4},"title":"Great moments in Pittsburgh sports history: 1970-1989","date":"May 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Post-Gazette\u2019s Out of the Archives: Sports is a photographic tour through the city\u2019s rich sports history. From the Penguins\u2019 Stanley Cup championship this past June to the Pirates\u2019 World Series victory in 1909, fans can both learn by peering decades into the past and relive more recent glory by\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/16.-Steelers-Super-Bowl-Victory-over-the-Los-Angeles-Rams-1980-AP-87t00kko-1.jpg?fit=846%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2066,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/11\/steelers-fans-high-on-their-football-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":1533,"position":5},"title":"Steelers fans high on their football team","date":"February 11, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Steelers fans always have been a colorful bunch.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mi18pbiHaX1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C902&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1533"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4690,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions\/4690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}