Naomi Waller, late Bronx resident Naomi Gay, danced in Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers until 1938. She was Frankie Manning’s partner in the Cotton Club show and was in Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers 1937 European tour. After her return to New York she left the group and became a chorus girl, working in the Savannah Club. In recent […]
The Golden Age
Harry Rosenberg (Rowe)
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Ruthie Rheingold (Ettin)
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Ruthie Rheingold and Harry Rosenberg
“Whitey’s White Lindy Hoppers” When Harry Rosenberg first walked into the legendary Savoy Ballroom in 1936 and looked around the dance floor at the great dancers, he was not intimidated. “I’m gonna be the best dancer in the Savoy Ballroom,” he told himself. Then his eyes fell on Frankie Manning. As Harry told the story, […]
Russell Williams
Russell Williams/Rasul Ali was a dancer with Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers who won the Harvest Moon Ball competition with partner Connie Hill in 1937 or 38. They are shown dancing together in the famous photo above. After WW2 he danced in Frankie Manning’s Congaroos. His untimely death occurred in the 1960s when he was trying to […]
Willa Mae Ricker
Willamae Ricker was one of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, featured in the famous 1943 LIFE Magazine story on the Lindy Hop with Leon James, along with the white Broadway dancers, Stanley Catron and Kaye Pop whose picture appears on the cover. The photographs of individual dance steps by Gjon Mili are sensational. Especially notable is a […]
Billy Ricker
Billy Ricker and his high school sweetheart and wife, Willa Mae , were close friends with Frankie Manning from their pre-Savoy days in the early 30’s at the Rennaissance Ballroom till Ricker’s death in 1987. Ricker was a member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and later worked as one of Norma Miller’s Jazzmen. Billy Ricker is […]
Mildred Pollard
Mildred Pollard aka Sandra Gibson also known as “Boogie” One of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Her name changed after she married Chocolateer tap dancer Albert “Gib” Gibson, but she was best known by her nickname, “Boogie”. Don’t miss her solo dance in Mura Dehn’s The Spirit Moves to see how she earned her nickname. This filmclip is excerpted […]
Frankie Manning
The Ambassador of Lindy Hop 1914-2009 No one has contributed more to the Lindy Hop than Frankie Manning — as a dancer, innovator and choreographer. For much of his lifetime he was an unofficial Ambassador of Lindy Hop. Originally touring as a dancer and choreographer with Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in the 30’s and 40’s, he […]
Al Minns
One of the great dancers of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, Al Minns was an energetic dancer with a wild, crazy-leg style reminiscent of “Long-Legged George” Grenidge. Minns was in Whitey’s top group, known as The Harlem Congaroos and appeared in the feature film Hellzapoppin’ and in the popular soundie Hot Chocolates. As the youngest dancer in […]
Norma Miller
Norma Miller The Queen of Swing Norma Miller was first discovered as a gifted young Lindy Hopper by Herbert “Whitey” White when she was just 14 years old. Since she was too young to go into the Savoy Ballroom, she often danced outside on the sidewalk where the music could be heard quite well. The […]
Dorothy “Dot” Johnson
The Lindy Hopper known as Tiny Bunch was a huge King Kong of a man, over 300 pounds, but he was a graceful and agile dancer. His partner, Dot Johnson, was quite petite like King Kong movie co-star Fay Wray. This humorous couple was immortalized by the photographer Aaron Siskind in his photo, At the […]
