103 bithday of Frankie Manning
Today it would be the 103th birthday of Franke Manning, one of the greatest choreographers and dancers of swing!
American dancer and choreographe associated with the swing era, the golden period of jazz. He is considered to be one of the lindy hop dancers, who was particularly popular in the USA in the thirties and revived in the Anglo-Saxon world in the 1980s.
Frankie Manning was born in Jacksonville, Florida on May 26, 1914. He was a child of separated parents. He began to show off his dancing talent from an early age, under the guidance of his mother, who was a dancer.
One morning in 1929, Frankie Manning was walking through Harlem on his way to Sunday school. Passing the Alhambra Ballroom, he made a decision to take dance classes that would change swing forever. He was only 15 years old!
At the beginning of the 1930s he lived in New York and participated in dance competitions in the famous Savoy Ballroom and Kat's Corner.
In 1935, along with Frida Wassington's partner, he performed an aerial figure on a swing dance under the sounds of Downie Camp Camp Meetin's play by the Tsik Weber Orchestra, impressing the 2,000 honors of the contest . This dance was named lindy hop by his main rival that night, the dancer George "Sorti" Snowdon, and Manning was one of his main makers.
Manning was professionally engaged in this kind of dance until 1955, when the swing era had gone undetected. He was then forced to work as a postal worker for a living.
In 1986, Linda Hop dance revived, and Manig returned to the forefront, starting a second career as a choreographer and choreographer this time. In 1989 he co-authored the "Black and Blue" musical, which was honored with Tony that same year. In May 2007 he released his autobiography titled "Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop" ("Frankie Manning: The Lindy Hop Ambassador").
The Lindy Hop and Manning’s aerial flourishes became wildly popular, and Manning himself performed the dance in several 40’s era movies. He also served in WWII, toured South America and the UK with his troupe, The Congaroos, performed the Lindy for King George VI, and won a Tony Award for his choreographic work on the Broadway musical Black and Blue.
Frankie Manning died on April 27, 2009, at the age of 94.
More about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Manning
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Thanks for the info Rebecca! Sounds like he had a great life! :-)
Sure he did, John! :)