Thank you to the 9:20 Special in San Francisco for this guest post. They’re organizing a Frankie Celebration as part of Frankie Month in May and this list of Frankie’s Favorite Steps is part of that effort. Initially Compiled by Laura Jeffers, Edited by Rik Panganiban, April 2016 With Frankie Manning’s birthday coming up, some of us […]
Just a few years after Frankie Manning retired from the Post Office, when the momentum of the swing dance revival was just starting to build, he was approached by two Broadway producers who were bringing the Paris production of “Black and Blue” to Broadway. They had heard that Frankie was an original dancer of the Harlem […]
Interviews conducted & article written by Dan Gorman The Frankie Manning Foundation only came into existence six years ago, but today it is at the forefront of the global swing dance scene. Frankie Manning was one of the originators of the lindy hop at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, and he later played a pivotal […]
Our FMF Ambassadors are special people. They are talented dancers, of course, but they are also trailblazers – they are introducing Lindy hop in new communities which may not have even heard of it before. They are naturally curious and they are lifetime learners. And they are also very generous teachers, sharing what they know. […]
Guest Post by Brendan Argent In the 1940s, musicians in Sophiatown (South Africa) started playing swing music in the style of the American big bands they heard on the radio. Before long, the neighbourhood became know as ‘Little Harlem’. This South African swing had a very distinctive flavour as the (often homemade) penny whistles and […]
Thank you to Sing Lim for initiating this project, capturing different dancers’ special memories of Frankie Manning. Åsa Heedman Catrine Ljunggren Chester Whitmore Daniel Heedman Elliott Donnelley Fish (Jan Forsell) Juan Villafane Julie Oram Lennart Westerlund Matt Bedell Marcus & Bärbl Ramona Staffeld Ryan Francois Do you have […]
We love seeing your Frankie photos so we thought we’d share of a few of our own. Here are a few photos of our Board Members, Judy Pritchett, Cynthia Millman, and Mandi Gould with Frankie. […]
Hello from Harlem! Spring has sprung – and we have thawed out! Here’s what’s been happening in our neck of the woods: May 1st: A Dance Retrospective featuring Swing, Lindy Hop and the Savoy! A couple of months back The Harlem Swing Dance Society (THSDS) was invited to be a part of a […]
By Mandi Gould As a long time Lindy Hopper and “professional Lindy Hop volunteer”, when I travel it’s usually related to swing dancing in some way. For the past eighteen and a half years, most of my voyages have been made with the explicit purpose of dancing. On the rare occasion that I take a non-dance […]
By Åsa Heedman Today it is 6 years ago since I got a phone call from a friend in the middle of the night- a phone call to say goodbye. 6 years ago since I missed a very important phone call. 6 years ago that someone, to me one of very, very important persons left. […]
The Frankie Manning Foundation is pleased to welcome guest bloggers on a variety of subjects. Kicking off our new Lindy Hop DJ Corner is Michael Gamble: HELLO, MICHAEL GAMBLE HERE I want to talk to you, dancers and DJ’s, about my passion for big band music. Mostly, I want you to fall in love with […]
Contributed by Barbara Jones Greetings from Harlem! Spring and a rebirth of energy is upon us all: here is the latest from the place where Lindy Hop all began…. with The Harlem Swing Dance Society (THSDS). Bad News but Good News – The Renaissance Casino and Ballroom Sadly close to 5,000 signatures and the work […]
