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I've just heard that Frankie Manning passed away this morning, just a month shy of his 95th birthday.
Who is Frankie Manning?
He brought joy to thousands of people, from the 1930s through to the 1980s, '90s and today. He pioneered a dance style (Lindy Hop) that gave Amercans something infectiuous, fun and exhilerating - and a dance style they could call their own.
Frankie Manning was born in 1914 and was one of the key personalities in the swing jazz movement of 1930s New York. He danced in the Savoy Ballroom in its heyday, he pioneered the famous 'air steps' (aerials) of Lindy Hop and performed with and choreographed for the famous Whitey's Lindy Hoppers dance troupe.
Frankie and Ann Johnson demonstrating anover the shoulder air step in the Savoy Ballroom
Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in their defining moment, the dance scence
from the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin' - Frankie's wearing the overalls
Frankie toured the world with jazz artists Ethel Waters, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Cab Calloway. He gave a command performance for King George VI in London in 1937. In 1942 a Life magazine cover story proclaimed the Lindy Hop as "America's national dance" and "this country's only native and original dance form" except for tap dancing.
Frankie never lost his enthusiasm for Lindy Hop and was dancing right up until his death, age 94. His 80th birthday ( in 1994) was commemorated by a weekend-long celebration in New York City ; his 85th culminated in a sold out party at New York's Roseland Ballroom, where a pair of his dance shoes were placed in a showcase along with those of dancers such as Fred Astaire.
Thousands of dancers who love vintage jazz and lindy hop are mourning Frankie's passing today. Known as known as the "Ambassador of Swing", he defined the popular entertainment of a generation in the 1930s and 40s, and then did it all over again in the 1980s and '90s.
His autobiography is available on Amazon.com - and it's on my personal reading list. Click the link below to get your copy and learn more about a man who defined the dance that defined a pivotal era in American music and culture.
Thousands of dancers who love vintage jazz and lindy hop are mourning Frankie's passing today. Known as known as the "Ambassador of Swing", he defined the popular entertainment of a generation in the 1930s and 40s, and then did it all over again in the 1980s and '90s.
His autobiography is available on Amazon.com - and it's on my personal reading list. Click the link below to get your copy and learn more about a man who defined the dance that defined a pivotal era in American music and culture.
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I did a tribute post on my blog, too. Frankie was such an inspiration, not only as a dancer, but as a vibrant human being. He will be sorely missed. :(
Hi Diana,
I'm still sad about Frankie. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "he had a vibrant sense of purpose and joy that inspired dancers everywhere." He was not just a great dancer, he was a constant source of joyful inspiration - and people like that don't come around very often.
My dance partner and I have an ethos of "Fun first", and making sure our dance students get a sense of the joy of dancing right off the bat, and then start worrying about technique - not the other way around!
It's nice to hear from another swing enthusiast. If you're ever heading to New Zealand drop me an email.
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