| SAVOYSTYLESHOP
Vintage Videos Instructional Videos T-Shirts Notecards BIOGRAPHIES First Generation: |
Norma Miller | ||
| BIOGRAPHIES
First Generation: Shorty George Leroy Stretch Jones Twistmouth George The Golden Age: Whitey's Lindy Hprs. Sandra Gibson George Grenidge Leon James Ann Johnson Dorothy Johnson Norma Miller Al Minns Frankie Manning Billy Ricker Willa Mae Ricker Russell Williams |
Don't miss Norma Miller's delightful autobiography
Swingin'
at the Savoy in which she tells the story of her days at the Savoy
Ballroom with warmth, humor and vitality.
Below are some of the highlights of her life story...  View
QuickTime
sample of Norma Miller dancing in "A Day at the Races."
Learn about QuickTime |
Films and Documentaries
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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 |
Norma
Miller was first discovered as a gifted young Lindy Hopper by Herbert
"Whitey" White when she was just 14 years old. Since she was too young
to go into the Savoy Ballroom, she often danced outside on the sidewalk
where the music could be heard quite well. The first time Whitey saw her
she appeared out of nowhere on the dance floor and won a Savoy dance contest
with Twistmouth
George as her partner.
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| Radio
City Revels
The Spirit Moves Stompin' at the Savoy Swing Kids Swingin'at the Savoy Symphony in Black SAVOYSTYLESHOP Vintage Videos Instructional Videos Frankie Manning CD Norma Miller Book "Can't Top" Videos BIOGRAPHIES First Generation: Shorty George Leroy Stretch Jones Twistmouth George The Golden Age: Whitey's Lindy Hprs. Sandra Gibson Ann Johnson Dorothy Johnson Norma Miller Al Minns Frankie Manning Billy Ricker Willa Mae Ricker Russell Williams |
Norma has been in show business
ever since those sidewalk days. After Whitey's Lindy Hoppers disbanded
in the early forties, she formed her own company in California, Norma
Miller's Dance Company and had her own show at the legendary Club Alabam
in the Watts section of L.A. In the early fifties she, Billy
Ricker and drummer Michael Silvers worked as the Del Rio Trio,
until the night Sammy Davis Jr. saw the group and promptly hired away Mike
Silvers to be his drummer. In the later fifties she formed Norma Millers
Jazz Men, which included fellow Lindy Hopper Billy
Ricker, Frankie Manning's son the tap dancer Chazz Young, Billy Dotson,
Stoney Montenez and Raymond (?).
As a comedienne, Norma worked in Las Vegas with Redd Foxx for over 10 years, including appearances in his TV show, Sanford and Son where she is remembered as the airline stewardess who offered "Coffee, tea or ME?" In the seventies she formed another Lindy Hop and jazz performance group, the Savoy Swingers. In addition to many standard entertainment venues, this group did a series of performances in the New York City puc school system, introducing African-American dance history to the new generation. A lifelong close friend of Frankie Manning, Norma recently danced with him in Spike Lee's feature film, Malcolm X and in Debbie Allen's TV Film Stomping at the Savoy, which she choreographed with Frankie as her assistant. Today, Norma continues to work as a comedienne and choreographer in Las Vegas. Now we can all enjoy Norma's telling of her life story with the publication of her book Swingin' at the Savoy by Temple University Press. |
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