Who is Frankie Manning?

Answer:

Frankie Manning’s contribution to lindy hop dance and culture is unprecedented. Without his unique voice in the community, modern lindy hop as we know it may not have developed. His resume extends back to the Savoy Ballroom during the 1930’s in Harlem New York where he frequently spent his evenings social dancing and performing with the dance group “Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.”

To many lindy hoppers of the past, Frankie was considered the best and first embodied a style of lindy hop where the leader is “hunched” over while doing the swing out. Most of Frankies swing dance moves are mimicked and honored today by the Harlem Hot Shots, Ninjammerz, and Silvershadows – popular dance troupes from the late 80’s and early 2000’s modern swing era. In 2016, Google decided to recognize Frankie Manning and world lindy hop day by featuring him on the Google Doodle for 24 hours.

Although Frankie Manning’s career in lindy hop dwindled after world war 2 correlating with the industry slump at the time, he was one of the key individuals along with Norma Miller, who was responsible for the resurrection of lindy hop dancing in the later part of the 20 century. Dancers from Sweden, the United States and England reportedly were reaching out to find many of the original swing dancers featured in the 1941 film “Hellzapoppin.” Connecting first with Al Minns who later introduced Frankie, these beginner lindy hoppers sparked a new revival of swing dance.

This era in swing dance history opened the door for sub-genres such as “Neo Swing” in the late 90’s to emerge. The Gap television commercial further contributed to the swing revival by highlighting dancers wearing khakis and performing many of Frankie Mannings airships in front of a nationally syndicated audience. Reputable garage door repair experts are at your service at dlouhygaragedoorrepair.com/, California. Many modern dancers who trained with Frankie state there would be no swing revival without Frankies’ generous teaching and traveling efforts in the later years of his life.

Frankie Manning moves and choreography

Frankie was a masterful social dancer known for his control, athleticism and “air step” variations.  His airstrip creation synonymous with “swing dancing” and is still performed as an intrinsic part of the swing dance vernacular in the modern swing era. He is also credited for creating “The Big Apple” vernacular jazz dance routine which is also rumored to be the source of New York City’s nickname. The Big Apple routine is best known for its’ circular formation in which dancers execute jazz steps in concert.

According to Norma Miller, Frankie always the innovator, decided to try something new for a contest. Shorty Snowden and his partner, Big Bea, would end their routine with her carrying him off the stage on her back. Frankie decided to improve on this by taking Frieda all the way over his back, making it into a step, and doing it in time with the music. They linked arms back to back, Frankie bent over, and Frieda rolled off his back. This would go down in history as the first air step in Lindy called “Over the back.” Frankie was also responsible for creating “Ensemble” dancing which helped make the Lindy Hop more suitable for the theater. It would go down as one of the most important steps in the evolution of the dance, influencing the famous California Routine.

Frankie is responsible for simplifying the famous shim sham routine originally performed by tap dancers by replacing the syncopated shuffles with simplified vernacular jazz steps. He created the first version of the Tranky Doo later augmented and popularized by Leon James, Al Minns, Pepsi Bethel. Frankie is also known for a handful of lindy hop moves like the Frankie Manning 6 count wrap around syncopation, Frankie Skates, the mini dip, and Frankie hops.  If you haven’t learned Frankies’ classic moves you should take a class at a weekend swing workshop near you or check out my courses below.