Legendary Savoy ballroom dancer, Tony-award winning choreographer, and Lindy Hop ambassador, Frankie Manning, brought enthusiasm, joy, and innovation to changing the course of swing dancing during his career. He died of pneumonia just a month short of his 95th birthday at New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital, on April 27, 2009. His most popular dance sequence is the one he choreographed and performed in for "Hellzapoppin'."

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Born May 26, 1914, in Jacksonville, FL, Legendary Savoy ballroom dancer, Tony-award winning choreographer and Lindy Hop ambassador, Frankie Manning, brought enthusiasm, joy, and innovation to changing the course of swing dancing during his career.

His most popular dance sequence is the one he choreographed and performed in for “Hellzapoppin’.”

Manning died of pneumonia just a month short of his 95th birthday at New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital, on April 27, 2009.

Raised by his laundress mother, the family moved to Harlem when Frankie was 3. He tagged along when his mother danced at “rent parties” – neighborly fundraisers held to help friends pay the landlord.

The LA Times said, “Manning's chief innovation was popularizing the thrilling "air step" move in which a female partner is tossed in the air and lands in time with the music. After introducing this choreographic accent, sometimes called an "aerial," he and fellow Lindy hoppers developed dozens of others in which partners fling each other around, over and between various limbs. Manning created the over-the-back air step in 1935 at a weekly dance competition at the Savoy (in Harlem), and it became a sensation.”



Manning and partner Freida Washington won a dance contest at the Savoy contest by including his first acrobatic partner-toss. It’s thought that these dramatic flying moves, coming at the time of Lindbergh’s famous flight, inspired the name “Lindy Hop” because of their airborne qualities.

Some of the Savoy's finest dancers, including Manning, were recruited to join Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a dance performance team that offered the pinnacle of swing dance. Manning toured the world with them from 1936-1943, becoming unofficial choreographer for the group.



The detail above shows Whyte's Hopping Maniacs performing with "Le Cotton Club de New York" at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, summer 1937.

As part of the team, Manning played The Cotton Club and shared stage billing with performers like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, and others.

The team performed before King George VI of England in 1937.

The Archives of Lindy Hop at www.savoystyle.com says:

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.

Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and Manning’s choreography were featured in movies, including "Hellzapoppin" and "Day at the Races":

Helzapoppin. (Frankie is the last of the four to enter, wearing the overalls. His performance is considered to be the greatest swing dance number of all time.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_Bs9egsS4

Day at the Races (Frankie does not dance in this clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5T8XauYhlU
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When Manning returned from his service in WW2, he formed the Congaroo Dancers. They performed in shows with entertainers like Dizzy Gillespie and Nat "King" Cole.

After bebop jazz and rock ‘n roll redirected the music scene away from the sophisticated syncopated sounds of swing, family-man Manning spent 30 years as a postal clerk.

But the reawakening of swing in the 1980’s uncovered Manning, and he revived his career as a headliner dance instructor.  In 1989, along with dance legends Fayard Nicholas, Cholly Atkins and Henry LeTang, he choreographed the Broadway musical revue, "Black and Blue,” and together they were awarded the Tony.



Manning also choreographed for several dance companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He choreographed and danced in the Spike Lee film "Malcolm X" and instructed Denzel Washington in his dance scenes.

In 2000, Manning was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship.  In 2003, at 89, he lead the Shim Sham Shimmy at a Louis and Company swing dance workshop in Overland Park, Kansas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hubzPVG3f28

On May 21 the most-watched public television channel in the nation, NY Public Television, THIRTEEN, will air a tribute to Manning.  The special documentary, Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging will premier at 10:30pm and will explore Manning’s life from a teenager in Harlem to becoming a worldwide icon of swing dance.

For his annual birthday dances, Manning followed his custom of dancing with one woman for every year of his life, partnering 94 women in succession, at his last birthday event in 2008.


While Manning continues dancing in the celestial realms, more than 2000 swing dancers left behind will kick up their heels in honor of his life, May 21-25, in NYC. FrankieFest 95, originally planned to mark his 95th birthday on May 26, is now a memorial celebration. www.frankie95.com

Manning will be memorialized in a service open to the public on Friday, May 22 at 10:00 AM at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (at 59th Street.) A traditional Second Line, led by the David Otswald and the Gully Low Jazz Band, will wend its way through the streets and the park to a dance at the Naumberg bandshell in Central Park.
 
In honor of Manning, an attempt to set the Guinness World Record for most couples dancing at once will take place Friday afternoon, May 22, in Central Park, and is also open to the public. On the same afternoon, they will set the world record for largest Shim Sham.

Tickets for individual events taking place May 22- 25 are available at the door. All evening dance events and pre-dance presentations will be held in the Hammerstein and Grand Ballrooms in the Manhattan Center located on 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in New York City.  Afternoon events will be held throughout the city.

This is a non-profit event, and all proceeds will go towards the establishment of a Frankie Manning Fund/Foundation to support Frankie's legacy and to promote swing music and dance all over the world. For more info, contact David Jacoby,  (212) 769-1476, info@frankie95.com

Manning 's autobiography, Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop, (Temple University Press May 2007) was written with Cynthia R. Millman. It features his stories about the early days of swing dancing and Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, recounting his experiences up through the revival of swing dancing in the 1980s. Celebrity student Bette Midler calls him, "A poet of the dance floor” and says, ”This book is a must read for any one who loves the dance, amateur or professional. What a life he has lived, and thank God he remembers it all!"


Timeline (courtesy www.frankiemanning.com)

1914  Born on May 26 in Jacksonville, Florida.
1926  Savoy Ballroom opens at Lenox Avenue and 140th Street in Harlem.
1933  First ventures to Savoy Ballroom.
1934  Invited by Herbert "Whitey" White to join elite group of Savoy Lindy hoppers.
1935  Introduces the first Lindy air step, over-the-back.
          Introduces "stops" and synchronized ensemble lindy routines.
1936  Whyte's Hopping Maniacs appear in downtown reopening of the Cotton Club.
1937  Whitey's Lindy Hoppers appear in A Day at the Races (uncredited).
1938  Whitey's Hopping Maniacs appear in Radio City Revels (uncredited).
1939  Arthur White's Lindy Hoppers appear in Keep Punching.
1941  Congeroo Dancers appear in Hellzapoppin'.                    Whitey's Lindy Hoppers appear in Hot Chocolate ("Cottontail") with Duke Ellington.
1943  Inducted into Army. Serves in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan.
1947  FM's new group, the Congaroo Dancers, debuts at Roxy Theatre.
1948  Four Congaroos appear in Killer Diller.
1955  Disbands the Congaroo Dancers.
          Goes to work for the U.S. Postal Service.
1958  Savoy Ballroom closes.
1986  Begins teaching career by agreeing to work with Erin Stevens and Steven Mitchell.
1987  Retires from the post office.
1989  Wins Tony Award for Best Choreography for Black and Blue with Cholly Atkins, Henry LeTang, and Fayard Nicholas.
1992  Serves as consultant/performer in Spike Lee's film Malcolm X.
          Serves as assistant choreographer/performer with Norma Miller in Debbie
          Allen's Stompin' at the Savoy.
1994  Receives NEA Choreographers' Fellowship.
1999  Performs in PBS special, Swinging' with Duke, featuring the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.
2000  Receives NEA National Heritage Fellowship.
          Appears in Ken Burns's documentary, Jazz.
2007    Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop is published.

RESOURCES

Frankie Manning dies at 94; helped popularize the Lindy Hop click here Accessed May 17, 2009.

Lindy Hop great Frankie Manning dies at 94 click here  

http://www.savoystyle.com/congaroo_dancers.html Accessed May 17, 2009.

http://www.savoystyle.com/whiteys_lindy_hoppers.html Accessed May 17, 2009.

www.savoystyle.com Accessed May 17, 2009.

Frankie Manning: ‘Ambassador of the Lindy Hop’, 1914-2009. click here Accessed May 17, 2009.
 

http://frankie95.com/frankieweek.php Accessed May 17, 2009.

www.frankiemanning.com Accessed May 18, 2009.

HSDS is the Houston Swing Dance Society  www.hsds.org

www.frankie95.com provided the Frankie Manning logos as well as this statement: 

As in years past, the honor of hosting Frankie's birthday celebrations has been passed from one host city or organization to another.  Past host locations include Boston, San Francisco, Japan and NewYork City and on the high seas of the Caribbean.  Frankie’s passing will not end the tradition of celebrating his rich contributions to the lindy hop scene and we look forward to seeing where the next celebration of his life will take place.  

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

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