Excerpt from Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop by Frankie Manning and Cynthia R. Millman. Temple University Press, 2007
1914 | Born on May 26 in Jacksonville, Florida. |
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1926 | Savoy Ballroom opens at Lenox Avenue and 140th Street in Harlem. |
1933 | First ventures to Savoy Ballroom. |
1934 | Invited by Herbert “Whitey” White to join elite group of Savoy Lindy hoppers. |
1935 | Introduces the first Lindy air step, over-the-back. Introduces “stops” and synchronized ensemble lindy routines. |
1936 | Whyte’s Hopping Maniacs appear in downtown reopening of the Cotton Club. |
1937 | Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers appear in A Day at the Races (uncredited). |
1938 | Whitey’s Hopping Maniacs appear in Radio City Revels (uncredited). |
1939 | Arthur White’s Lindy Hoppers appear in Keep Punching. |
1941 | Congeroo Dancers appear in Hellzapoppin’. Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers appear in Hot Chocolate (“Cottontail”) with Duke Ellington. |
1943 | Inducted into Army. Serves in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan. |
1947 | FM’s new group, the Congaroo Dancers, debuts at Roxy Theatre. |
1948 | Four Congaroos appear in Killer Diller. |
1955 | Disbands the Congaroo Dancers. Goes to work for the U.S. Postal Service. |
1958 | Savoy Ballroom closes. |
1986 | Begins teaching career by agreeing to work with Erin Stevens and Steven Mitchell. |
1987 | Retires from the post office. |
1989 | Wins Tony Award for Best Choreography for Black and Blue with Cholly Atkins, Henry LeTang, and Fayard Nicholas. |
1992 | Serves as consultant/performer in Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X. Serves as assistant choreographer/performer with Norma Miller in Debbie Allen’s Stompin’ at the Savoy. |
1994 | Receives NEA Choreographers’ Fellowship. |
1999 | Performs in PBS special, Swinging’ with Duke, featuring the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. |
2000 | Receives NEA National Heritage Fellowship. Appears in Ken Burns’s documentary, Jazz. |
2000 | Performs in PBS special, Swinging’ with Duke, featuring the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. |
2007 | Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop is published. |
2009 | Died on April 27, 2009, in Manhattan, New York. |