Hal Takier grew up in Los Angeles, California when jazz was hot and every little neighborhood had a ballroom packed wall to wall with dancers. Always the passionate music lover, Hal began dancing around the age of 18 in the mid 1930’s. Back then, many of the young kids taught themselves to dance by watching, trying, and refining their steps. He, along with his partner and first-wife, Betty Roeser, quickly gained notoriety as ruthless executors of extremely fast and engaging dances in competitions around LA
Hal and Betty joined Maxie Dorf, ‘Lolly’ Wise, Gil Fernandez and their partners as the Ray Rand Swingers. This group of LA swing dancers were hired to perform or compete at dance halls, ballrooms, films, and special events. You will see in the clips below, that Hal had a particularly energetic way of swing dancing. He jumps around, incorporates air steps, and keeps up with extremely fast tempos. This spirited dancing and ambitious drive to win competitions landed his image in print and film
Through the 1960s, Hal and his second-wife Marge, who he met in in 1957, spent their free time continuing to swing dance with friends on a regular basis. In the 80’s and 90’s they were and integral part of the Bobby McGee’s Sunday’s and Disneyland’s Carnation Pavilion Big Band nights. With the revival of swing in the 90’s, young dancers from Southern California homed in on swing dance styles seen in Hollywood Swing Era films. It was not long before they discovered Hal, Marge, and the rest of the surviving ‘old timers.’ And Hal, like many others, were thrilled to support the burgeoning swing dance community by sharing their dance knowledge with a new generation, attending local lindy hop events, breaking down steps and ideas, giving interviews, and telling stories.
Hal was one of the greatest. And because he is preserved in film and historical records, his style and moves will continue to influence generations of swing dancers to come. Excerpts from Atomic Ballroom
CSDHOF Board note; Hal Passed in January 2012. For reasons unknown and board turnarounds, he was not inducted into Stellar in 2012 nor the following 2014. Recognizing this oversight, the current board nominated Hal. He was inducted in Stellar in 2022 and wife Marge attended the CSDHOF Gala to accept his Stellar award.
https://atomicballroom.com/blog/2012/01/11/in-memory-of-hal-takier/