Frankie Manning

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Frankie Manning 2005

Frankie Manning (born May 26, 1914 in Jacksonville , Florida , † April 27, 2009 in Manhattan , New York City ) was an American dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. Manning is considered to be one of the founders of the swing dance Lindy Hop . He is also awarded the first aerial in this dance.

Early career

In the early 1930s, Frankie Manning was one of the most successful swing dancers at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem . Herbert White founded the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers dance formation in 1935 with the best Lindy Hop dancers in the Savoy Ballroom, including Frankie Manning, who also acted as the formation's unofficial choreographer. The group has danced in several films, the best-known being their appearance in Hellzapoppin ' ("In hell the devil is loose"). When many of the dancers were drafted during World War II , the group broke up. After the war, Frankie Manning founded his own formation in 1947. When this broke up in 1955, Frankie Manning began working for the United States Postal Service .

Swing revival in the 1980s

In the 1980s, interest arose in the swing dances known from the films of the 30s. The footage could only convey part of the story, and so a few dancers began looking for dancers from these films in order to learn to dance directly from them. Erin Stevens & Steven Mitchell finally managed to find Frankie Manning in 1986. In the following years more and larger workshops were held on these dances, where Frankie Manning was often invited as a teacher. He also taught the swing dancers a version of the shim sham (actually a tap dance choreography).

Growing balls were held for his birthday, often with several thousand guests and over several days. Such a ball was also planned for his 95th birthday under the title "Frankie95" (including a reenactment of the dance scenes from Hellzapoppin ' ). However, a month before the event, Frankie Manning passed away from complications of pneumonia. However, the party was not canceled - "Frankie would have wanted it that way". As a birthday present, dancers around the world had danced a shim sham and cut it into a video. At his birthday party, 2,000 dancers danced the (probably) largest sham sham in New York City's Central Park .

Awards

In 1989 Frankie Manning got together with Cholly Atkins , Henry LeTang , and Fayard Nicholas the Tony Award for best choreographer for the musical Black and Blue .

In 2000 Frankie Manning was honored with the National Heritage Fellowship of the National Endowment for the Arts Foundation .

Filmography

  • 1938: Radio City Revels
  • 1939: Keep Punching
  • 1941: Hellzapoppin '
  • 1941: Hot Chocolates
  • 1943: Jittering Jitterbugs
  • 1948 Killer Diller
  • 1992: Malcolm X - Choreography
  • 1992: Stompin 'at the Savoy - Choreography
  • 2000: Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns
  • 2009: Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging

literature

  • Frankie Manning, Cynthia Millman: Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop . Temple Univ Pr, 2007, ISBN 1-59213-563-3 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Terry Monaghan: Frankie Manning, the Ambassador and Master of Lindy Hop, Dies at 94. The New York Times , April 28, 2009, accessed July 16, 2010 .
  2. ↑ a b c Frankie Manning. Swing and the City Munich, accessed on July 16, 2010 (English).
  3. ^ Frankie Manning, Lindy Hop Dancer / Choreographer / Teacher. National Endowment for the Arts , 2000, accessed January 21, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Manning, Frankie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American dancer, dance instructor, and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Jacksonville , Florida, United States
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 2009
Place of death Manhattan , New York City, New York, United States