He invents amazing acrobatic moves, creating the first Lindy Hop ensemble routines and they perform in films and shows around the world. Frankie Manning ends up as the group’s choreographer. The Savoy dancers, decide to form a professional group named Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, led by Herbert “Whitey” White. This move wows everyone who is there that night. Frankie and dance partner Frieda Washington perform the first-ever aerial move on the dancefloor at the Savoy, a back-to-back roll. He works all day and goes to The Savoy to dance all night. Frankie dances in Kat’s Corner a special place on the dancefloor where, almost every night, dance-off competitions are held. Later, he dances at the Renaissance Ballroom and Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem as a teenager and then with a regular group of friends at the Savoy Ballroom. Two fantastic dancers from this era were Frankie Manning and Norma Miller who also performed at the Cotton Club with Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers dance group…įrankie Manning begins dancing as a child. Most people know him as a scat man (scoobily-doo), call-and-response bandleader and the singer of Minnie the Moocher. I’m chuffed that he’s alive and well and still making appearances here and there. I then resolve to discover more about Cab Calloway at my local library where I find a vinyl album of his greatest hits. Then I find out that Jumpin’ Jive was originally recorded by Cab Calloway in July 1939 and sold over a million copies at the time. I’d sing it all day long thinking that – for little me at least – this is something really fresh, new and exciting. It’s 1981 and this song is filled with joy, fun and character. I am eleven-years-old when I hear Joe Jackson sing Jumpin’ Jive on the radio.
Curiosity is something we have in abundance as a kid but sometimes lose as we get older… It’s funny how we come to find the things that we love through curiosity and the creativity of others to bring history and places to life. We’re starting in 1980s Scotland, travelling via tinsel town to Harlem in the 1930s and then Lindy Hopping around the world. Well, sort of…let’s step into the time machine.
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