SAVOYSTYLESHOP
Vintage Videos
Instructional Video
Norma Miller Book
Willa Mae Ricker
     
BIOGRAPHIES
First Generation:
Shorty George
LeroyStretchJones
Twistmouth George
The Golden Age:
Whitey'sLindyHprs.
Tiny Bunch
Congaroo Dancers
Sandra Gibson
      Films 
     Hellzapoppin' (1941) 
     Hot Chocolates (1941) 
     Killer Diller (1948) 
     The Spirit Moves (c.1950) 

View QuickTime sample of Willa Mae Ricker dancing with Frankie Manning from "The Spirit Moves"About QuickTime

George Grenidge
Leon James
Ann Johnson
Dorothy  Johnson
Norma Miller
Al Minns
Frankie Manning
Mildred Pollard
Billy Ricker
Willa Mae Ricker
Russell Williams 
 
Willamae Ricker was one of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, featured in the famous 1943 LIFE Magazine story on the Lindy Hop with Leon James, along with the white Broadway dancers, Stanley Catron and Kaye Pop whose picture appears on the cover.
The photographs of individual dance steps by Gjon Mili are sensational. Especially notable is a full page photograph on a black background of WillaMae and Leon both exuberantly jumping in mid-air. In my humble opinion, this picture should have been chosen for the cover of this issue as it is much more spontaneous and much less contrived than the one that does appear. In fact, this photo was used on the cover of the European edition.
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 
The Spirit Moves 
Stompin' at the Savoy 
Swing Kids 
Swingin'at the Savoy 
Symphony in Black
Frankie Manning says of his longtime friend Willamae Ricker, "She was one of the greats of Lindy Hop... she was the soul and heart of the dance". He specifically notes her skill in doing all of the aerials, and her physical strength "to hold men up so they could shine". Although Willa Mae and her husband Lindy Hopper Billy Ricker were high school sweethearts and enjoyed a long and healthy marriage, they rarely danced together professionally. She partnered Leon James, Al Minns, Frankie Manning, Russell Williams and others. She won the first Harvest Moon Ball with Leon James in 1935. 

 

During World War II, when so many of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers were serving in the armed forces, Willa Mae managed the
Harlem Congeroos, considered Whitey's greatest group. When Frankie Manning returned from the Pacific in 1947, he took over the management and WillaMae continued as a dancer in the group, known simply as the Congaroo Dancers. During one of their annual summer-long gigs at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, she had to have an emergency hysterectomy. While Helen Daniels replaced her in the show, she followed her doctor's advice to rebuild muscle and stamina by daily jogging on the beach. She made a remarkable recovery and soon rejoined the show. After the break-up of the Congaroos in the late fifties, WillaMae enjoyed a career as a fashion model. She had always been a fashionable dresser and with her business savvy, she was able to make a successful second career in fashion. 
BIOGRAPHIES
First Generation:
Shorty George 
LeroyStretchJones
Twistmouth George
The Golden Age:
Whitey'sLindyHprs.
Sandra Gibson

 

    When Willa Mae died of cancer in the sixties, the romance had still not left her marriage to Billy, she never stopped dancing, and never lost the sweet disposition that made her the most beloved of the Lindy Hoppers. 


    Willa Mae's Business Card

     Written by Judy Pritchett with Frank Manning. Copyright, 1995, 1996 May not be reproduced without written permission<judyp@savoystyle.org>. Last updated: 22 September, 1997 This Biography is also part of the World Lindy Hop Federation Archives maintained by Keith Hughes.

    Any information about obtaining permission to use this detail of Gjon Mili's famous photograph would be much appreciated.