Happy Frankie Month!

The month of May is Frankie Month – we kick off today!!

Read all about Frankie Month here or see below in this newsletter for a round up of the worldwide initiatives as well as ideas for local events.

There are thousands of Lindy Hoppers around the world and not everyone knows about Frankie Manning or about Frankie Month. Please share the news about Frankie Month as well as the sign upinformation for Solid Sender with your friends so that everyone stays in the loop. You share the FMF accounts: Facebook, Twitter, and now also Google+ and Pinterest.

The Spirit of Frankie Month

In the spirit of Frankie, we encourage you to collaborate and make Frankie Month inclusive within your community. Contact other dancers and local organizers and work together to make it a celebration that unites all dancers in your community.

Promote the spirit of Frankie with these values:

respect
generosity
inclusivity
humbleness
joy
authenticity to the roots of the dance

Celebrate Frankie in your home town:

Party like Frankie! Throw a swingin’ birthday party or a lindy hop dance that Frankie would have enjoyed.
Play the music of the Savoy Ballroom and the big bands of the swing era.
Hold Frankie Manning inspired dance classes and workshops.
Share Frankie videos and stories.
Raise funds so that the Frankie Manning Foundation can continue Frankie’s mission.

Consider donating proceeds to the Frankie Manning Foundation. The Frankie Manning Foundation preserves the legacy of Frankie and promotes Lindy Hop worldwide through events and celebrations, as well ambassador programs, scholarships and youth initiatives. The Frankie Manning Foundation relies on donations to achieve these missions. Events that make a donation to the Frankie Manning Foundation will receive special recognition on our website as all donations help to realize Frankie’s dreams in projects such as scholarships and youth programming. Contributing events will receive special recognition on our website.

Featured Blog Posts

6 YEARS LATER – Remembering Frankie

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.

There are so many things I wanted to have said that night. If I only had the chance.
During spring 2009 we were practicing intensively for the big show, your big birthday party in New York. We were studying “Keep Punching” in detail, Daniel were trying to get all details of your movements. Our biggest goal and our drive were at all time to make you feel proud. To do our best to show our appreciation by showing you our love – through our dancing, just like you gave so much love through yours. We also got the great honor to represent you in a part of the show from World’s fair. Daniel was going to be you. I was your partner.
Read th is remembrance of Frankie here.

SWING! The Broadway Musical – Then & Now

…To my absolute delight, less than 2 minutes in to the show, a real Lindy Hop couple broke on to the stage swinging low and hard. I pretty much leapt out of my seat, I was so thrilled to see that first stretchy horizontal swingout roar out on the stage with that flying Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers look to it. The leader was matched perfectly by the badass swivels of the follower. Then, my heart missed a beat when I realized, to my dismay, that I actually recognized the leader…!
Read the full Swing! article here.

LINDY HOP DJ CORNER: Why DJs Should Play More Big Band Swing Music

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 it the way I have, and, if you’re a DJ, to take it upon yourself to make sure this stuff saturates the dance floor. I’m gonna make a lot of suggestions, over many posts, but this first one is just to get us rolling and introduce the topic…

Read the full DJ Corner post here.

HARLEM SWING DANCE SOCIETY – THE HARLEM SWOP! Harlem Swings Into Spring

A couple of months back The Harlem Swing Dance Society (THSDS) was invited to be a part of a retrospective showing the influences of dance throughout NYC. Maysles, a neighborhood documentary cinema, wanted to feature Harlem’s famed dance and the Savoy Ballroom to start of the 3 month series. The series is titled “The Spirit Moves”, and naturally Maysles called THSDS with plans to feature clips not only from the famous Jazz dance documentary but also feature those who were at the Savoy on a panel discussion…

Read the Harlem SWOP blog post here.

Featured Video

This video was made last year, as an invitation to Frankie 100, but it’s a beautiful little invitation and I think it works just as well to invite everyone everywhere to participate in Frankie Month. At the end of the video, at his 75th birthday party, Frankie invites everyone to celebrate with him again 25 years later. We did that, and we plan to keep on celebrating every year for the entire month of May. Watch the video and happy Frankie Month to all of you, everywhere!

The perfect follow up to the above video is this moment at Frankie 100 when we rang in Frankie’s birthday with an incredible balloon drop. Relive the countdown!

Featured Song

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve listened to Shiny Stockings. It’s a wonderful song and there is always something new to catch and appreciate. Frankie must have listened and danced to Shiny Stockings millions of times. Listen again for the first time.

I couldn’t find a good version of the song to just listen to for free on YouTube so I picked this video of Frankie dancing with Frida. Make sure to look up versions of Shiny Stockings to add to your music collection.

We have some special swing items on sale, via eBay. All proceeds help to support the Frankie Manning Foundation’s many projects around the world.
Click here to view the eBay page.

Stay tuned for some exciting eBay auctions during Frankie Month!

SUPPORT FMF WITH FRANKIE 100 TRADING CARDS!

“True Lindy Hoppers know their roots.” – Kevin St. Laurent

Know your roots and help support the Frankie Manning Foundation!

The Frankie 100 trading cards have been reissued as the Legends of Lindy Hop collection.

Each card features an iconic picture and historical information on Frankie, Dawn, Norma, and fourteen additional dancers.

The entire 22 card set is available for a limited time as thank you gifts to supporters of the Frankie Manning Foundation.

Donations start at $50.

Click here for more information and to make a donation to start collecting!

SHARING FRANKIE PHOTOS

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, Chazz Young, Judy Pritchett, Cynthia Millman, and Mandi Gould with Frankie. We’re still looking for photos of Elliott Donnelley and Buddy Steves to add to our little collection.
Click here to view regular sized the photos.

What will your #IamFrankieManning inspiration be?

We look forward to seeing your creativity!

There are a few ways to donate:

1. To donate directly by Paypal with any denomination of your choosing, please click here.

2. Make a donation for a specified amount and receive a set of limited edition Legends of Lindy Hop Trading Cards as a thank you gift. Read more about the collection of trading cards here. Collect the trading cards yourself, or use them as prizes and games within your dance community.

3. Make a donation to support a specific cause. Right now, we have some options on our Support page to support some specific Youth Programs with the Cleveland Junior Jitterbugs. Click here to view the current options.

4. Purchase one of our sale items. All proceeds will support the Foundation. Visit the shop here.

5. Write a cheque made out to “FRANKIE MANNING FOUNDATION” and mail to:

Frankie Manning Foundation
2320 Blue Bonnet Blvd.
Houston TX 77030
USA

Take our Survey

Fill in our quick and fun little survey. It just takes a minute. Please also share the survey with your friends on social media.