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A Tribute to Swing Dance King Frankie Manning
By Neil Peterson | June 5, 2009
If traditional ballroom dancing is the adults’ table at a family function – elegant and decorated with the finest silverware, then surely swing dancing is the rowdy children’s table, where peals of laughter are bouncing off the walls and the food is more likely to be found in someone’s hair than on someone’s plate. Even the word ‘swing’ seems gloriously unfit, sliding out of your mouth in consonant-filled glory. And so it is, in dance, that swing is just a bit more messy, wild, and enthusiastic than its forefathers – and is the better for it.
Swing dancing, like the Big Band music that birthed it, was a revolution – a response to the grim memories of World War I, and a way to honor and celebrate life as the world was thrust back again into turmoil of World War II. It is nearly impossible to hear the music of swing without feeling the primal pulse of the music, something bigger than oneself, pulling the rhythm out. And if Harlem`s Savoy Ballroom was the birthplace of swing, then Frankie Manning was the man who brought it to the world with the Lindy Hop.
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Frankie Manning rose to prominence on the dance floor of the Savoy. Most often found in `Cat`s Corner` – a space reserved for the premiere dancers – Manning`s flair quickly made him a standout, earning him a place in Whitey`s Lindy Hoppers, the first professional swing ensemble. Organized by Herbert White, and comprising the best of the Savoy dancers, the Lindy Hoppers toured around the world and were featured in several films. As a key member of the group, Manning created much of the group`s choreography, his high energy making the dances impossible to ignore. But the wartime pressures soon disbanded the group as many of the male dancers joined the service.
Hellzapoppin’
Seeing Manning dance it is hard to imagine him doing anything else. Vintage films of the era show him, flying faster than seems possible, with partner Norma Miller as they danced their signature Lindy Hop – named for aviator Charles Lindbergh, and the popular line dance, the Shim Sham. However, as the nation’s interest in swing waned in the early 1950′s, Manning took a job with the US Postal Service, where he would work for the next 30 years.
In 1986, Manning was contacted by two young dancers, Erin Stevens and Steven Mitchell, hoping to re-ignite an interest in swing dancing. Initially skeptical that a new generation would be interested in a old-fashioned dance craze, Manning was soon proven wrong, and dance troupes and camps around the world clamored to have his presence on their floors. Occasionally appearing with his Savoy partner, Norma Miller, Manning taught the joy of swing to eager students from Australia to Sweden.
Frankie Manning passed away in April at the age of 95, having taken part in reinvigorating a dance that he helped to popularize. In addition to witnessing the swing revival, his second wind also gave him new opportunities to choreograph, earning him a Tony Award for his work with Broadway musical ‘Black and Blue’. Manning may be gone, but his legacy as the ‘Ambassador of Lindy Hop‘ inspires a whole new generation of enthusiasts, for whom ‘swing is the thing’.
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Topics: Dancing, General, Inspiration | No Comments »