Frankie Manning week

Imagine a young man in the 1930s going to the legendary Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom in New York City, he sees all those dancers and decides to join in and swing along, eventually becoming an elite dancer there, inventing new steps and moves (aerials) and shaping the dance as it goes on, becoming one of the members of the professional dancers group Whitey's Lindy Hoppers.This man is still alive and kicking today and this year Frankie Manning, one of the pioneers of Lindy Hop will celebrate his 95th birthday. His official birthday party will be in New York in May but in order to give Lindy Hoppers worldwide the opportunity to participate in the celebrations, Frankie Manning week starts today, lasting until 22nd of March. Also check out this choreography!

Swinging out

A swing-out. There are many ways of doing and here is what Frankie Manning - the man who saw how lindy hop was born and contributed a lot to its development - said about it in his book.

'Many of the other dancers developed specialties to distinguish themselves and wow the crowd. As Dawn Hampton, my good friend and one of my favourite dance partners today, likes to point out, “All of the Lindy hoppers at the Savoy had their own individual style. It’s not like everyone was going to class and learning someone else’s way of dancing.” A lot of the girls came up with their own way of swinging out. Some would back away from their partner; others would go out facing away from him, then flip around – whatever fir their fancy. No one ever told them they weren’t doing the Lindy just because their swing-out was different.

Joyce and Joe Daniels developed a swing-out that became known as "the submarine." He’d bend down so low that his left arm was coming up from the floor as he pushed her so forcibly that she’d shoot out. It was almost like what we call the whip today. We’d say, “Man you submarining that girl!"'
Extract from: Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop. Frankie Manning, Cynthia R. Millman. Temple University Press, 2007. p. 169

The Shim Sham

The Shim Sham Shimmy or Shim Sham originally is a particular tap dance routine. It is the Lindy Line Dance and there are at least five separate versions of it. However, the point of Shim Sham is getting together and any way you do it is just fine. When a group of people do the Shim Sham (especially a group of people from different cities), their steps will be largely similar with some variation and even some improvisation. Among the alternative choreographies of Shim Sham one is developed by Frankie Manning, another by Al Minns and Leon James (also called the "Savoy Shim Sham"), and a third by Dean Collins.

The Original Lindy Hoppers at the Savoy Ballroom had a considerable background in Tap and jazz dance. They used to warm up for dancing by doing traditional jazz and tap steps. Eventually, their warm-up became standardized and a group of them could be found on the floor warming up as the band was tuning up.

The Shim Sham was originated by Leonard Reed and Willie Bryant in Harlem in 1927 and has been a favorite of tap dancers and other entertainers every since. Frankie Manning has introduced it to swing dancers. It is undisputed that the Lindy revival of the late 1980s also brought back Shim Sham and no evening of swing dancing is complete without the Shim Sham.

Today in the Lindy Hop scene, when the Shim Sham is over , dancers typically grab a partner and break into lindy hop for the remainder of the song. During this portion of the song, the band or a DJ may call out "Freeze!" or "Slow!" instructing the dancers to either stop where they are or dance slowly, calling out "Dance!" to tell everyone to resumes normal dancing.