Frankie Manning and the Lindy Hop, the Original Swing Dance

NEWS! Frankie Mannning's Autobiography "Ambassador of Lindy Hop" is out"!
Autographed copies are available at the SavoyStyle Swing Dance Shop .

Frankie Manning's Year-2007 Official Lindy Hop Teaching Schedule

SavoyStyle Shop Vintage Videos Instructional Videos Swing Dance Shoes Vintage Clothing Savoy Posters History African Roots Reading BIOGRAPHIES *First Generation:* Shorty George Leroy Stretch Jones Twistmouth George	Frankie Manning The Ambassador of Lindy Hop View QuickTime sample: Frank Manning doing the Charleston, from "The Spirit Moves." Learn about QuickTime
*The Golden Age:* Frankie Manning Whitey'sLindyHprs. Tiny Bunch Sandra Gibson George Grenidge Leon James Ann Johnson Dorothy Johnson Norma Miller Al Minns Frankie Manning Mildred Pollard Ruthie Rheingold Billy Ricker Willa Mae Ricker Harry Rosenberg Russell Williams	Manning in Australia in 1938 and in 2002 at age 88	No one has contributed more to the Lindy Hop than Frankie Manning -- as a dancer, innovator and choreographer. For much of his lifetime he has been an unofficial Ambassador of Lindy Hop. Originally touring as a dancer and choreographer with Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in the 30's and 40's, he helped spread the popularity of the Lindy Hop through three continents. Once again, since the swing dance revival that started in the 1980s, Frank Manning has been a driving force worldwide with his teaching, choreography and performance. His own love of swing music and dancing has been as contagious as his dazzling smile.
MOVIES After Seben The Big Apple Call Of The Jitterbug Can't Top theLindyHop Cootie Williams Cottontail Day At The Races Chicago & All That Jazz Frankie Manning Instructional Videos Hellzapoppin' Hot Chocolates Jammin'the Blues Jittering Jitterbugs Killer Diller Malcolm X Manhattan Merry-Go-Round Outline Jitterbug Hist The Policy Man Radio City Revels	Frankie Manning started dancing in his early teens at a Sunday afternoon dance at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem to the music of Vernon Andrade. From there he moved on to the Rennaissance Ballroom, which had an early evening dance for older teens with the live swing music of the Claude Hopkins Orchestra. Finally, Frankie "graduated" to the Savoy Ballroom, which was known for its great dancers and bands. Manning, competitive as well as gifted, became a star in the informal jams in the "Kat's Korner" of the Savoy, frequently won the Saturday night contests, and was invited to join the elite 400 Club, whose members could come to the Savoy Ballroom daytime hours to practise alongside the bands that were booked at the Savoy.		...unflagging in vitality after all these years
The Spirit Moves Stompin' at the Savoy Swing Kids Swingin'at the Savoy Symphony in Black	Frank Manning's dancing stood out, even among the greats of the Savoy Ballroom, for its unerring musicality. Fast on his feet and with a keen ear, Frankie gave physical expression to the beat, the feel and the excitement of the swing sound played by the great Big Bands.
SavoyStyle Shop Vintage Videos Instructional Videos Swing Dance Shoes Vintage Clothing Norma Miller Book BIOGRAPHIES *First Generation:* Shorty George Leroy Stretch Jones Twistmouth George *The Golden Age:* Whitey'sLindyHprs. Tiny Bunch Congaroo Dancers Sandra Gibson George Grenidge Leon James Ann Johnson Dorothy Johnson Norma Miller Al Minns Frankie Manning Mildred Pollard Ruthie Rheingold Billy Ricker Willa Mae Ricker Harry Rosenberg Russell Williams MOVIES After Seben The Big Apple Call Of The Jitterbug Can't Top theLindyH Cootie Williams Cottontail Day At The Races Chicago & All That Jazz Frankie Manning Instructional Videos Hellzapoppin' Hot Chocolates Jammin'the Blues Jittering Jitterbugs Killer Diller Malcolm X Manhattan Merry-Go-Round Outline Jitterbug Hist The Policy Man Radio City Revels The Spirit Moves Stompin' at the Savoy Swing Kids Swingin'at the Savoy Symphony in Black SavoyStyle Shop Vintage Videos Instructional Videos Swing Dance Shoes Vintage Clothing Savoy Posters	Frankie was inspired by first-generation Lindy Hoppers George "Shorty" Snowden and Leroy "Stretch" Jones. However, in order to beat these two great dancers in the intense competitions held at the Savoy Ballroom, Frankie developed his own unique style. He is responsible for many innovations of Lindy Hop step and style, including dancing at a sharp angle to the ground like a track runner, instead of in the upright, stiff ballroom position of his predecesssors. In a famous competition --really, a showdown-- Frankie Manning and his partner Freda Washington outdanced Shorty and his partner Big Bea-- and astonished the crowd of 2000-- with the first Lindy airstep ever done. *In a famous competition... Frankie astonished the crowd of 2000-- with the first Lindy airstep ever done.* In 1935, when Herbert White brought together the top Savoy Ballroom Dancers into a professional performance group to be called Whitey's Lindy Hoppers , Frankie created the first ensemble Lindy Hop routines. This gave him an opportunity to expand upon his gift for transforming the swing music into exciting dance-movement patterns. When Whitey's Lindy Hoppers were in their heyday, Frankie was the chief choreographer, serving as what we today would call artistic director while Whitey was business manager. Frankie's 85th Birthday Poster View QuickTime sample of the "Over the Back" Airstep. See Frankie and Willa Mae Ricker in The Spirit Moves in 1950. Learn about QuickTime		Films Mannhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937) Jittering Jitterbugs (1938) Hellzapoppin' (1941) Hot Chocolates (1941) Radio City Revels (193?) Killer Diller (1948) Malcolm X (1992) Stomping at the Savoy (1993) Documentaries The Spirit Moves Call Of The Jitterbug 20/20 - Back into Swing 7/23/89 National Geographic: Jitterbug Swingin' at the Savoy Can't Top the Lindy Hop *[Many of the films above are available in video format and can be purchased at the SavoyStyle Swing Dance Shop]* Books "FrankieManning, Ambassador of Lindy Hop"by Frankie Mannning and Cynthia Millman "Swingin' at the Savoy" by Norma Miller Instructional Videos Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 1 Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 2 Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 3 Shim Sham Recent Stage Choreographies "Black'n'Blue" - Broadway Show Alvin Ailey Dance Company "Opus McShain" with Norma Miller American Ballroom Dance Theatre Foot & Fiddle Dance Company Jiving Lindy Hoppers (London) Zoots and Spangles (London) Rhythm Hot Shots (Sweden) Big Apple Lindy Hoppers (NY) Major Awards Tony Award for Choreography of Broadway show Black'n'Blue - 1989 National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Choreography 1994 and 1995 National Heritage Fellowship 2000 Frankie Manning, center, with Whitey's Lindy Hoppers at the Savoy Ballroom as rendered in a 2001 painting by artist Richard Yarde
	Written and researched by Judy Pritchett with Frankie Manning (C). May be reproduced only with explicit written permission. Last updated: 06 January 2004. Send your suggestions, corrections or comments to judyp@savoystyle.com