Stage Name |
Birth Name |
'Killer Joe' |
Frank Joseph Piro |
Joe Piro was the son of an
Italian Tailor who would grow up to be crowned the "King
of dance" and Instructor for the Mob!. Supposedly won the
Harvest
Moon Ball several times in the 1940's, opened his own Dance
Studio in Manhattan and taught many famous people such as Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis, Margot Fonteyn, Ray
Bolger, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Lucy Baines Johnson
(president Johnson's daughter) to dance such dances as
the Jitterbug, Cha-Cha, Mambo, Twist and Watusi as well as others.
In World War II, he served in the
Coast Guard and upon his return started dancing in many nightclubs
and contests as well as later becoming the main teacher at the
Palladium
in the 1950's. He would eventually become a board member of prestigious
Friars Club
The "Killer" was
also said to have taught such infamous people as Al Capone. Piro
got his name from his ability to wear down many |
Burlesque 
