Lindy Hop great Frankie Manning dies at 94

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Lindy Hop great Frankie Manning dies at 94
BY David Hinckley
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Monday, April 27th 2009, 4:09 PM

Frankie Manning, 90, dances with one of his students, Denise Steele, at his tribute party at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem. Frankie Manning, who pioneered the Lindy Hop in the 1930s, won a Tony a half-century later and inspired swing dancers around the world, died yesterday at Lenox Hill Hospital from complications of pneumonia. But he didn't take the dancing with him.

More than 2,000 swing dancers from 30 countries will come to New York May 21-25 to participate in "FrankieFest 95," which was originally planned to mark his 95th birthday on May 26. Organizers say it will go on, and will now become a memorial celebration — which won't be a big transition, because almost every swing dancer in the world uses moves invented, shaped or polished by Frankie Manning.

A tall, courtly man with endless energy and enthusiasm, Manning lived long enough to see his style of dancing fade away and then spring back to life. He was a cornerstone of that revival, both as a teacher and a dancer himself. He was actively dancing until late last year, when he fell on an overseas trip and suffered lingering complications. He had told friends he still planned to dance at FrankieFest this year — not a minor thing at his birthday celebrations, since he insisted on dancing with at least one woman for each year of his life.

Born in Jacksonville, Fla., Manning moved to Harlem with his family when he was 3. He grew up around jazz and later swing music, and in the 1930s became one of the star dancers at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom. In the elite "Cat's Corner" there, he and partner Fredi Washington won a contest one year by creating the first "air step," also known as an "aerial," where Manning seemed to send Washington flying through the air. Proficient as he was at solo dancing, Manning had an even greater knack for choreographing groups. So when Herbert White put together a troupe that became known as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Manning became its unofficial choreographer.

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