SavoyStyle Shop Vintage Videos Instructional Videos BIOGRAPHIES First Generation: Shorty George Leroy Stretch Jones Twistmouth George The Golden Age: Whitey's Lindy Hprs. 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	Frankie  Manning The Ambassador of Lindy Hop 1914-2009
	MOVIES  After Seben The Big Apple Call Of The Jitterbug Can't Top the LHop 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 Queen of Swing Radio City Revels The Spirit Moves Stompin' at the Savoy Swing Kids Swingin'at the Savoy Symphony in Black	No one has contributed more to the Lindy Hop than Frankie Manning -- as a dancer, innovator and choreographer. For much of his lifetime he was 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 was a driving force worldwide with his teaching, choreography and performance. His own love of swing music and dancing was contagious as his dazzling smile. Manning in Australia in 1938  and in 2002 at age 88	View QuickTime sample:  Frank Manning doing the Charleston, from "The Spirit Moves." Films Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937)  Keep Punching (1938) Hellzapoppin' (1941) Hot Chocolates (1941) Radio City Revels (193?) Killer Diller (1948) Malcolm X (1992) Stomping at the Savoy (1993)
	History African Roots Reading BIOGRAPHIES First Generation: Shorty George Leroy Stretch Jones Twistmouth George The Golden Age: Whitey's Lindy Hprs. Tiny Bunch Congaroo Dancers Sandra Gibson George Grenidge Leon James Ann Johnson	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. Competitive as well as gifted,Manning, 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.	Ambassador of  Lindy Hop by Frankie Manning and Cynthia Millman
	Dorothy  Johnson Norma Miller Al Minns Frankie Manning Mildred Pollard Ruthie Rheingold	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.
	Billy Ricker Willa Mae Ricker Harry Rosenberg Russell Williams	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.	Documentaries  The Spirit Moves  Call Of The Jitterbug 20/20 - Back into Swing 7/23/89  National Geographic: Jitterbug             Swingin' at the Savoy (Living Trad.) Can't Top the Lindy Hop FrankieManning,NeverStopSwinging Instructional Videos Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 1  Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 2  Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 3  Shim Sham Books FrankieManning, Ambassador of   Lindy Hop by Frankie Mannning and     Cynthia Millman Swingin' at the Savoy by Norma Miller 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