Swing dance history and cultural significance

¶ … Frankie Manning, the father of the Lindy Hop swing dance, and a legend in swing dance circles. Frankie Manning did not invent the Lindy Hop, as many people believe. However, he created some of its most famous moves and steps, and continues to teach the dance today, at the ripe old age of 90. Frankie Manning began his career in Harlem at the Savoy Ballroom, but he helped promote the Lindy and other swing dances around the globe. He is one of the most important swing dancers to ever affect the genre, and his influence continues in the widespread resurgence of swing dance and swing dancing popularity. He also continues to influence swing dance by choreographing films, Broadway shows, and even television shows, helping continue the dance resurgence.

Many people have called swing music some of the first real American music. A blend of jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, and even gospel, (all uniquely American music) swing music became popular in the dance halls of Chicago and Harlem, New York in the 1920, and spread from there. Swing music was (and is) played primarily by "Big Bands," bands with a large brass section, some woodwinds, percussion, and usually a famous bandleader like Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, or Glenn Miller. They often had a lead singer, too. Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and Louis Armstrong all sang in front of big bands, along with many others.

The jazzy, rhythmic beat of swing music just urged people to dance, and so, a new dance form began, called "swing dance" that went along with the big band beat and rhythm. One of the first popular swing dances was the "Lindy Hop," first danced at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the early 1930. Legend has it that the dance was named after Charles Lindberg and his famous solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1929. After he successfully landed in Paris, newspapers across the country reported that "Lindy Hops the Atlantic" ("Happy Feet" and Editors). In Harlem at the Savoy, the most popular swing dance was simply called the "hop." However, after Lindberg's success, "a reporter, looking at the crazy antics of the dancers at the Savoy, asked what the name of the dance was. 'It's the Lindy Hop!', came the reply. And thus the first real swing dance was born" ("Happy Feet"). The story is as plausible as any about the dance's origins. This Lindy Hop eventually evolved into a conglomerate of swing dance and jitterbug that is generally known simply as "swing."

In the 20s and 30s, the Savoy Ballroom was "the" place for swing music. Its dance floor covered a full city block, and all the big bands and singers played as the Savoy at one time or another. At least one song, "Stompin' at the Savoy" was written about the legendary ballroom. In 1935, a young dancer named Frankie Manning was dancing at the Savoy, and he threw in some aerial movements and different steps into his version of the Lindy Hop, and a whole new form of the swing dance was formed. Frankie Manning added "air-step" moves and the symbolic crouch that are still synonymous with swing dancing, especially the Lindy Hop, and that is why he is such a legend in the history of swing dance. One historian says, "In an air-step, one partner lifted, flipped, tossed, or threw the other. Both developments [the crouch and the air-step] made the dance more exciting and more appropriate as an act in revues and musicals" (Crease 212). Later, swing dancing would become a staple of many Hollywood films.

Big bands made most of their money from playing at ballrooms, not concert halls, and there were several troupes of professional dancers who traveled the country with the bands. One historian notes, "a typical show at the Cotton Club in the late 1930s, for instance, would include several different varieties of dance performances, among them tap, flash, and exotic, as well as a team of Lindy Hoppers" (Crease 207). One of the most famous teams of Lindy Hoppers was "Whitey's Lindy Hoppers," organized by Herbert White, a former fighter and dancing waiter (Crease 212) in 1935. Frankie Manning was one of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, and his legend took off from there.

Not a lot is known about Frankie Manning's birth and early years. He was born in Florida but grew up in the Harlem area of New York City, and in one interview, he said his mother danced when he was in womb, so he has literally been dancing his entire life (Editors). When he was just a young teenager, he began dancing at different ballrooms in Harlem, including the Alhambra, Renaissance, and of course, the Savoy. Manning was a talented dancer, and competitive too, so he would often enter the Saturday night "Kat's Korner" competitions at the club. He won so often that finally he got to be a member of the "400 Club," an elite group of dancers who could come into the Savoy during rehearsals to practice with the bands that were playing at the club (Pritchett). Manning introduced his new, innovative steps sometime in 1935 and 1936, as historian Crease continues,

In 1935 and 1936, Manning introduced into the Lindy three features -- one stylistic and two choreographic -- that expanded its possibilities as a stage dance. The stylistic innovation was to crouch down low instead of dancing erect; this evened the momentum flow in swing-outs and gave the dance a smoother and faster look. The two choreographic innovations were ensemble dancing and air steps (Crease 212).

At the young age of twenty-two, Manning had already influenced the Lindy Hop and thus all swing dances in many ways, and he was just getting started.

In 1935, Manning joined Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, and became the chief choreographer for the group. In fact, he was the first man to choreograph group routines for the Lindy Hop (Pritchett). Another historian notes, "As the dance [the Lindy Hop] became airborne, its popularity spread the length and breadth of America. By the fall of 1936, White managed three teams, each comprised of three couples. [...] during his [Manning's] years with Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, they became internationally known" (O'Meally 288). Manning began choreographing Hollywood films in 1937, and his credits include "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round" in 1937, "Jittering Jitterbugs in 1938, "Hellzapoppin'" in 1941, and even "Malcolm X" in 1992. He also traveled around the world with Whitey's group, and later in life turned to choreography on the Broadway stage. Manning not only choreographed many films, he and the Lindy Hoppers also performed in many Hollywood films, which also helped the swing format become known around the country and around the world. The Lindy Hoppers appeared at the 1939 World's Fair, at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, and appeared in the Marx Brother's famous film "A Day at the Races," which for some reason, Manning did not choreograph (O'Meally 289). Manning was drafted during World War II, as were many of the other Lindy Hoppers, and the group disbanded and did not regroup after the war.

However, Manning continued his career in dance after the war. When he came back to America he formed his own dance group, the "Congaroos," who combined spectacular gymnastics with their dancing. However, dance groups were not as popular as they had been, and after a while the group broke up, and Manning took the civil service exam and began working at the post office, only dancing for pleasure, rather than profit. However, the Lindy was gaining popularity again, and in the late 80s, two dancers found him and asked him to teach them the Lindy. They were Erin Stephens and Stephen Mitchell, and many people credit them with at least some of the recognition in reviving the swing dance movement and bringing it into popularity again. They also helped revive Manning's career. He taught them how to Lindy, and then began choreographing Broadway shows in 1989. His first show, "Black and Blue," won him a Tony Award in 1989. He also won the National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Choreography 1994 and 1995 and the National Heritage Fellowship in 2000. He continues to teach the Lindy Hop, and his calendar includes a full schedule of trips and seminars throughout 2005 (Pritchett).

Manning acknowledges his influence in the Lindy Hop and its transference to other kinds of swing dancing. In a 1998 interview with New York City's PBS station he notes, kind of introduced aerials as steps, as we called them at that time. I introduced them into the Lindy Hop because air step is done in time with the music, which is different from lifts that are done in ballroom dancing. In ballroom dancing, lifts have been there for a long time, where the male partner picks up his female partner gracefully and holds her above his head and he twirls her and he sets her gently on the floor smoothly. In the Lindy Hop you just take the girl and say, "Listen, you just gotta land in time with the music," and you just throw them. Well, I kind of introduced that into Lindy Hopping. And we call it an air step because that's the way that we envisioned it -- as a step. We said, This has to be done in time with the music. it's not a lift -- it's a step -- so you gotta do it as a step (Editors).