After 49 years Frankie Manning the leader
of the 8 Big Apple Dancers that visited Brisbane with the
show Hollywood Hotel Revue in 1938 returns. The inventor
of the "AirStep", that made Lindy Hop
and all its descendent dances (Jitterbug, Swing, Lindy,
Boogie Woogie, Rock'n'Roll, Le Roc, or Ceroc)
so exciting will be instructing at a workshop this Easter in Brisbane.
Swing Tuit Brisbane came into being in May 1996 with
our first Lindy Hop workshop hosted by John Wentz and Mary Travis
from Seattle Washington.
We've been having regular get togethers with social
tuition on Monday Nights at the Greenslopes Bowls Club since then.
We had our second workshop in August hosted by our
own Martin & Lucinda who brought back lots of neat moves from
Catalina (a workshop they attended in the States with all the
world's best swing teachers).
Our third Lindy workshop was in October with Sing
Lim (who has high repute among the current world's best swing
dancer) from Singapore.
The fourth workshop was in December when we had Mary
Pat Cooney and Jim James from the Washington Swing Dance Society.
Swing Tuit had a Christmas dance on Saturday November
30 at Wellers Hill Bowls Club. Attended by a small group which
took advantage of the music which was hot! and generous dance
floor.
We wrapped up the year with our Xmas break-up night
on Monday 16th December, a great time was had by all, in fact
nobody wanted to leave!
Now that we are in a new year we'd like to tell you
of a few things we have coming up for the 1997 Swing Calendar.
We will continue with Monday night social tuition at Greenslopes Bowls Club with Lindy foundations from 7.30 sharp to 8pm followed by Lindy/Swing patterns from 8-9pm with social dancing and
review 9-10pm. Cost is $5 admission
And....... on the first Friday of every month we
will have a Swing dance night at Wellers Hill Bowls Club, Esher
Street, Ekibin 8pm-12 midnight with social tuition from 8-9pm
followed by a social dance. We are looking into the possibility
of putting on bands with a mixture of rock and roll/big bands
with swing music played in the breaks.
In March 1997 a large group of people from Swing
Tuit will be heading down to Canberra for a Swing workshop on
the Weekend of March 14-16. This workshop will feature some of
the world's best Swing teachers such as Jonathan Bixby & Sylvia
Sykes, Sing Lim and the 'great' Frankie Manning. (detailed synopsis
on each of these people at the back of this newsletter) cost
is $160 for a 2 and 1/2 day workshop covering Lindy Hop, West
Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Balboa, Shim Sham etc. This is
the chance of a lifetime to rub shoulders with 'the best' on our
own turf, in Australia.
Swing Tuit will be hosting a workshop featuring Frankie
Manning on Easter Weekend Sat and Sun March 29 & 30 with a
dance on the Saturday night at Wellers Hill Bowls Club, Esher
Street, Ekibin.
The Brisbane Jazz Club will sadly lose their club
rooms at Kangaroo Point in March (unless they can get another
extension), however, it could possibly be to our advantage if
their new venue has a bigger dance floor!
And...... look out for our first Swingout Gig Guide
for the year featured at the back of this newsletter, which gives
upcoming bands and events so that you may go and dance.
Kate Reason one of our Swing Tuit members will soon
be back from the states where she attended Wild Week (a week long
swing dance camp between Christmas and New Year). When Kate gets
back we'll get her to write an article about it to let us all
know how it was.
There are some great CD's out at the moment, to name
just a few. Keep your eyes open next time your in Dollars and
Sense as they have some gems amongst their $5 CD's and a while
back had Videos of The Swingtime Collection (20 in the set featuring
jazz/swing from the late 30's through to the 60's) Great Stuff!
Need some good dancing shoes? want some two tone
brogues with leather or suede sole? or maybe you want some dance
sneakers? go and see Sue's Dance Wear House Shop 1-2, 871 Old
Cleveland Rd, Carina PH: 3398 5106
Or..... if you need a couple of swing style dresses
for dancing? See Lyn on Monday Nights or phone: 3264 1490
"Lesser dancers stumble, better dancers syncopate"
Source: Unknown
"Jitterbuggers would dance to windshield wipers if nothing else was available"
Source: Woody Herman
Every Monday night Greenslopes Bowls Club Swing Dance
Tuition and Social Dance $5 admission. 7.30-8pm Foundations, 8-9pm
Patterns, 9-10pm Review/Social Dance. The first Friday of each
month a lesson and social dance at Wellers Hill
Fri. Feb.7 Swing Tuit Social Dance and Lesson
Weller Hill Bowls Club, Esher Street, Ekibin
$5 fro lesson 8-9 $5 social 9-12
Fri Mar14-16 Swing Workshop
Canberra $160 (see details inside newsletter)
Sat Mar 29&30 Swing Workshop (featuring Frankie Manning)
Wellers Hill Bowls Club, Esher Street, Ekibin
9am til 4pm
$50 for the a day $95 for both
A chance of a lifetime
Note: Frankie will teach different routines in Canberra,
Darwin and Brisbane.
These dates/venues were correct at time of print, however, we would recommend that you confirm these dates with the venues so that you do not have a wasted trip! Keep on Swingin'.
The photographs of Frankie Manning and Ann Johnson
on this page were by the great American photographer W. Eugene
Smith and appeared in a 1941 LIFE Magazine. These scanned and
reduced reproductions can only hint at the brillance of the originals.
No one has contributed more to the Lindy Hop than
Frankie Manning -- as a dancer, innovator and choreographer. He
has also been an unofficial "Ambassador of Lindy Hop",
spreading its popularity through three continents touring with
in the 30's and 40's and once again teaching, choreographing
and performing in the current Lindy Hop revival of the 1980's
and 90's. His eightieth birthday, celebrated in New York City
with an event called Can't Top the Lindy Hop! honored both
the man and the dance, and demonstrated that both were unflagging
in vitality after all these years.
Frankie started dancing in his early teens at a Sunday
afternoon dance at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem to the music
of Vernon Andrade. From there he moved on to the Rennaissance
Ballroom, which had an early evening dance for older teens with
the live swing music of the Claude Hopkins Orchestra. Finally,
Frankie "graduated" to the Savoy Ballroom, which was
known for its great dancers and bands. Frankie, competitive as
well as gifted, became a star in the informal jams in the "Cat's
Corner" of the Savoy, frequently won the Saturday night contests,
and was invited to join the elite 400 Club, whose members could
come to the Savoy Ballroom daytime hours to practise alongside
the bands that were booked at the Savoy.
Frank Manning's dancing stood out, even among
the greats of the Savoy Ballroom, for its unerring musicality.
Fast on his feet and with a keen ear, Frankie gave physical expression
to the beat, the feel and the excitement of the swing sound played
by the great Big Bands.
Frankie was inspired by first-generation Lindy Hoppers
and . However, in order to beat these two great dancers in the
intense competitions held at the Savoy Ballroom, Frankie developed
his own unique style. He is responsible for many innovations of
Lindy Hop step and style, including dancing at a sharp angle to
the ground like a track runner, instead of in the upright, stiff
ballroom position of his predecessors. In a famous competition
--really, a showdown-- Frankie and his partner Freda Washington
outdanced Shorty and his partner Big Bea-- and astonished the
crowd of 2000-- with the first Lindy airstep ever done.
In 1935, when Herbert White brought together the
top Savoy Ballroom Dancers into a professional performance group
called , Frankie created the first ensemble Lindy Hop routines.
This gave him an opportunity to expand upon his gift for transforming
the swing music into exciting dance-movement patterns. When were
in their heyday, Frankie was the chief choreographer, serving
as what we today would call artistic director while Whitey was
business manager.
Films
Jittering Jitterbugs(1941)
Hellzapoppin'(1941)
Hot Chocolates(193?)
Killer Diller (1948)
Malcolm X(1992)
Stomping at the
Savoy (1993)
Documentaries
The Spirit Moves
Call of the Jitterbug
20/20 - Back into Swing 7/23/89
National Geographic Explorer: Jitterbug
Swinging at the Savoy
Instructional Videos
Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 1
Savoy Style Lindy Hop - Level 2
Savoy Style Lindy Hop = Level 3
Shim Sham
Recent Stage Choreographies
"Black'n'Blue" - Broadway Show (1988-1990)
Alvin Ailey Dance Company "Opus McShain" with Norma Miller
American Ballroom Dance Theatre (1994)
Foot and Fiddle Dance Company (1995)
Jiving Lindy Hoppers (London)
Zoots and Spangles (London)
Rhythm Hot Shots (Sweden)
Big Apple Lindy
Hoppers (New York)
Major Awards
Tony Award for Choreography of Broadway show Black'n'Blue - 1989
National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Choreography 1994 and 1995
City Lore People's Hall of Fame
World Dance Association
Budapest, Hungary - Award for Contribution to the World of Dance/Dance
to the World 1993
Written by Judy Pritchett with Frank Manning.
Copyright, 1995, 1996 May not be reproduced without written permission.
<>. Last updated: 18 May, 1996.
You may know it as Jitterbug or Swing
or Lindy. Or maybe you do the Boogie Woogie,
Rock'n'Roll, Le Roc, or Ceroc, all these
popular dances are direct descendants of the Lindy Hop,
which first popularised acrobatic steps.
If there is one dance workshop you attend in your life it should be one instructed by Frankie Manning. All levels of dancer can gain an immense amount from this great man. Please book your place now and tell all your dancing friends to come along they will never stop thanking you.
Swing Tuit is a Dance Society consisting of members who are dedicated to the Swing Dance Style. We would like to state that Swing Tuit in Brisbane is not a club but a group of people who are passionate about this dance form and like to go out and be social and most importantly have fun!
Our current members range in age from 22 to the more mature age of 60 something. The beauty of this style of dance is that you go as fast and hard, or as cool and laid back as you please and you do it with style! Age is no barrier.
Geographic area is also no barrier as the Society has International connections with Professional Swing Teachers in California, Washington, London, Singapore, Sydney and even locally in Brisbane. These connections are expanding as our Brisbane Society becomes better known.
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