May 26th has been designated World Lindy Hop Day in honor of Frankie Manning's birthday. Manning, who danced at the legendary Savoy Ballroom, was one of the original members of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers from the 1930's. He also was the dance's most indefatigable ambassador having encouraged dancers from all over the world to get up and do America's-- and the world's-- greatest dance right up onto his death in 2009 at the age of 94.
Frankie Manning & Norma Miller at the unveiling of the Savoy Ballroom plaque. World Lindy Hop Day was celebrated for the first time on May 26, 2014 in New York to celebrate Manning's 100th birthday. The Frankie Manning Centennial, a five day festival that featured big band dances, performances, competitions, workshops, children’s programs, panels and films celebrating Manning’s legacy of dance.
Although the Savoy Ballroom is long gone, having been demolished in 1958, we thought that perhaps the best way to remember what it and Frankie gave us is more than a plaque which it already has-- unveiled on May 26, 2002 on Manning's 88th birthday. We think it needs a monumental sculpture befitting the place where it all began right smack dab in the middle of Lenox Ave across from the plaque; a big beautiful bronze featuring Manning and his partner Ann Johnson as he throws her into the air during the Jitterbug dance sequence from the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin'. We think it embodies the power, strength, and the over-the-top explosion of the human African spirit found in the dance. And in America.
Although the Savoy Ballroom is long gone, having been demolished in 1958, we thought that perhaps the best way to remember what it and Frankie gave us is more than a plaque which it already has-- unveiled on May 26, 2002 on Manning's 88th birthday. We think it needs a monumental sculpture befitting the place where it all began right smack dab in the middle of Lenox Ave across from the plaque; a big beautiful bronze featuring Manning and his partner Ann Johnson as he throws her into the air during the Jitterbug dance sequence from the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin'. We think it embodies the power, strength, and the over-the-top explosion of the human African spirit found in the dance. And in America.
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