19 Facts About Frankie Manning

Frank Manning was an American dancer, instructor, and choreographer.

Frankie Manning is considered one of the founders of Lindy Hop, an energetic form of the jazz dance style known as swing.

Frankie Manning's mother sent him to spend summers with his father, aunt, and grandmother on their farm in Aiken, South Carolina.

Frankie Manning started listening to records on a Victrola in his bedroom and would practice dancing with a broom or a chair.

Frankie Manning frequented the Savoy in the 1930s, eventually becoming a dancer in the elite and prestigious "Kat's Corner," a corner of the dance floor where impromptu exhibitions and competitions took place.

Frankie Manning created the troupe's first ensemble routines and functioned as the group's de facto choreographer, although he was never officially credited with that title.

In 1947, after the war, Frankie Manning formed a four-person dance group called the Congaroos.

In 1986, dancers Erin Stevens and Steven Mitchell contacted Frankie Manning and asked him to teach them the Lindy Hop.

Mitchell and Stevens returned to California and helped to spread Lindy Hop to the West Coast and other areas of the US That same year, Lennart Westerlund contacted Frankie Manning and invited him to Sweden to work with The Rhythm Hot Shots.

Frankie Manning traveled to Sweden in 1987 and returned there every year from 1989 onward to teach at the Herrang Dance Camp.

Later, Frankie Manning would teach Ryan Francois, who would help introduce Lindy Hop to a British audience.

Once the swing dance and Lindy Hop revival took hold during the late 1980s, Frankie Manning taught Lindy Hop around the world, occasionally appearing with Norma Miller.

For example, Frankie Manning first visited Melbourne, Australia in 1939 to perform at the Princess Theatre.

At age 75, Frankie Manning co-choreographed the Broadway musical Black and Blue, for which he received a 1989 Tony Award.

Frankie Manning is interred in the Hillcrest Plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.

Frankie Manning's planned birthday celebration was recast as Frankie 95, a celebration of Manning's life, and drew more than 2,000 people from 33 countries.

Frankie Manning 100 took place in New York City from May 22 to 26,2014.

Frankie Manning was inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in 2009.

Frankie Manning was inducted into the US Swing Dance Council Hall of Fame in 1992.