Swing dancer extraordinaire Frankie Manning was a leading dancer at Harlem's legendary Savoy Ballroom where, in the mid-1930s, he revolutionized the course of the lindy hop with his innovations, including the lindy air step and synchronized ensemble lindy routine.
As a featured dancer and chief choreographer for the spectacular Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, he performed in numerous films (including Hellzapoppin'), and entertained on stages around the world with jazz greats Ethel Waters, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Cab Calloway.
Decades later, Frankie went on to win a Tony Award for Best Choreography for Black and Blue; He served as consultant/performer in Spike Lee's film Malcolm X; served as assistant choreographer/performer in Debbie Allen's Stompin' at the Savoy; Received the NEA Choreographers' Fellowship and NEA National Heritage Fellowship. Frankie continued to teach and mentor Lindy Hoppers all around the world until his passing, at 94.
(Download Full Bio [PDF], courtesy of FrankieManning.com )
The Book
Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop by Frankie Manning and Cynthia R. Millman
Temple University Press, 2007
In the early days of swing dancing, Frankie Manning stood out for his moves and his innovative routines; he created the "air step" in the Lindy hop, a dance that took the U.S. and then the world by storm. In this fascinating autobiography, the choreographer and Tony Award winner (Black and Blue) Frankie Manning recalls how his first years of dancing as a teenager at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom led to his becoming chief choreographer and a lead dancer for "Whitey's Lindy Hoppers," a group that appeared on Broadway, in Hollywood musicals, and on stages around the globe. Manning brings the Swing Era vividly back to life with his recollections of the crowded ballrooms, and of Lindy hoppers trying to outdo each other in spectacular performances.
