The Original Swing Dancers
SavoyStyle Shop
Vintage Videos
Instructional Videos
Swing Dance Shoes

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
Billy Ricker
Willa Mae Ricker
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
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

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
Billy Ricker
Willa Mae Ricker
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
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

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
Billy Ricker
Willa Mae Ricker
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
 

     
    Whitey's Lindy Hoppers
    The undisputed all-time champions of Lindy Hop,
    the original Swing Dance 
 
    Swing dance at the Savoy
It is almost 70 years since Herbert "Whitey" White started a professional performing group of Savoy Ballroom swing dancers in 1935. Yet the film clips of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers continue to delight and astonish audiences and inspire new generations of swing dancers. 
Whitey's group was formed from the creme de la creme of the Savoy; they were the top dancers in the top ballroom of the Swing Era. With Whitey's entrepreneurial skills, these Harlem youngsters were catapulted into world recognition thru both live performance and film. Their swing dance innovations had permanent impact on the social dance styles of the United States, Europe, Australia, and even Latin America and parts of Africa. 

From its beginnings, Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was much more than a dance troupe. It was a training ground which prepared the most talented social dancers of the Savoy Ballroom for professional gigs. It was also a social club which kept the young people out of trouble by allowing them unlimited access to the Ballroom-- by day to practise; by night to dance to the best swing bands in the 
world. 

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was the brainchild of Herbert "Whitey" White. An African-American man known as "Whitey" because of the streak of white in his hair, he was a former boxer who became a bouncer at the Savoy Ballroom. At one time, more than 70 swing dancers were employed by Whitey. He had a good eye for talent and, like a good coach, he knew how to nurture it. He gave many future entertainers their start in show business.

By late 1936, Whitey's dancers had officially made the big time. His top dancers worked a 6-month gig at the the famous Cotton Club under the name "Whitey's Hopping Maniacs" Meantime, Whitey pulled together a second group of top dancers to perform for the first time under the name "Whitey's Lindy Hoppers" in their first major Hollywood film, the Marx Brother's zany A Day at the Races.

Other films followed, as well as gigs at top venues in the U.S.A., Europe and Australia. Whitey did quite a juggling act; his dancers might be simultaneously performing at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Radio City Music Hall in New York, a Broadway show and an upcoming Hollywood film. Whitey himself 

How Whitey's Lindy Hoppers got their start:
In the early 1930's, as word got around about the sensational swing dancing at the Savoy Ballroom, requests came from downtown socialites and rich folk who wanted to have Lindy Hoppers perform at their lavish parties. Whitey, who got to know the young dancers well, was able to hand pick exciting dancers who were also socially adept and reliable. They were invariably delighted to make a few dollars doing what they loved (Aren't we all?). A father figure to many of these dancers, Whitey would send them downtown to those fancy digs with the admonition, "Remember, ain't nobody better than you." This advice must have come in handy in 1937, when a group of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers stood on line to shake hands with the Queen of England! This self-respect and pride permeated the Savoy Ballroom, one of the few places on earth where Blacks and whites could meet on the dance floor as equals. 

"Remember, ain't nobody better than you." 

In time, the sensational dancing of Whitey's hand-picked dancers came to the attention of the media. When they entered the Harvest Moon Ball competition in 1935, ballroom afficianados had their heads turned by the fast, fluid new dance to swing music which incorporated African influences and jazz rhythms into the standard European social dance framework.

Feature Films:

Whitey's dancers were always, first
and foremost, social dancers
was on the set in Hollywood for these first films. Norma Miller reports that Whitey kept the dancers on their toes, interrupting their breaks and having them do their routine whenever  movie stars and VIPs passed by. While away, he put Frankie Manning in charge of the Cotton Club gig, and then the European and Australian tours. Manning served as chief choreographer for all of Whitey's groups, although he declined an offer from Whitey to have
the Cotton Club group named Manning's Lindy Hoppers.  Dancer Louise" Pal" Andrews served as Whitey's "Gal Friday". 

 While in Hollywood working on the Lindy Hop sequence in the Judy Garland film "Everybody Sing", Whitey got in a dispute with the producer. It seemed that the producer gave young Judy Garland breaks from the set, but would not give the young Lindy Hoppers any breaks. Concerned about protecting his dancers from both exhaustion and second class treatment, Whitey tore up the contract. The sequence was removed from the film.

Between gigs these dancers always came home to the Savoy Ballroom. Their growing performance skills must have brought a lot of excitement to the Cat's Corner jams, where top dancers could shine in a circle of spectators. And the general standard of dancing at the Savoy must have been kept quite high with these talented dancers out there on the dance floor and competing in the Saturday night contests. No matter how far their professional careers went, Whitey's dancers were always, first and foremost, social dancers and true jazz dance improvisors, even after they had a number of choreographed routines under their belts. In this they paralleled the musicians of the great Big Bands, who could perform tight arrangements and still blow completely original jazz improvisations night after night. 

 

 
  •  The Dancers: 
  • Louise "Pal" Andrews
  • Tiny Bunch
  • Eunice Callen
  • Wilda Crawford
  • Mildred Cruse
  • Joe "Big Stupe" Daniels
  • Joyce "Little Stupe" Daniels
  • Eddie Davis
  • William Downes
  • Elnora Dyson
  • George Greenidge
  • Connie Hill
  • Leon James
  • Ann Johnson
  • Dorothy "Dot" Johnson
  • Frances "Mickey" Jones
  • Thomas "Tops" Lee
  • Maggie McMillan
  • Frankie Manning
  • Lucille Middleton
  • Norma Miller
  • Al Minns
  • Mildred Pollard
  • Billy Ricker
  • Willa Mae Ricker
  • Stumpy
  • Naomi Waller
  • Esther Washington
  • Freida Washington
  • Jerome Williams
  • Russell Williams

  •  

     
     
     

    The interaction between the improvisations of the great dancers and the great musicians made for fireworks! The dancers transposed the rhythms and riffs into movement and the musicians, watching, responded to what they saw with a frenzy of jazz innovation. 

    The musicians' idea of relaxation after working hard at a Savoy Ballroom gig was to stop by Minton's, an after hours club in Harlem. There they would meet up with whichever other musicians were in town --Benny Goodman's band, Duke Ellington's, Harry James and so on-- and they'd jam till breakfast time. Clearly, like the dancers in Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, they loved what they were doing. That joy was an essential ingredient of the greatness of the Swing Era.
     
     

     

    Written by Judy Pritchett with Frank Manning. Copyright, 1995, 1996, 1997.May not be reproduced without written permission.  judyp@savoystyle.com. Last updated 10 January 2003
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