http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTg5V2oA_hY

Watching that gives me such joy. Thanks.

My most vivid Frankie recollection is the Shim Sham he led for so many years at the New York Swing Dance Society nights. His energy was just so infectious....

Thank you Frankie for the incredible memories, the wonderful community, the joy of dance your generous efforts have inspired.

I've been watching youtube videos of Frankie all day. Sometimes, when the faces are washed out because of old film, it's hard to tell who is who. But Frankie's electric smile always lets me know it's him.

He was truly an inspiration to me, and all of my best dance moments came from Frankie and his classes. When Midori was pregnant, she couldn't be Frankie's teaching partner, and I was honored when he asked me to demonstrate with him. At the end of a particularly fun class (shoobity bop bop bow and bom bado ba, stick it out, pull it in and go side-to-side), he asked me if he would see me at Swing46 the next night, and of course I couldn't say no.

When I got there, I went over to say, hi and give him a hug. He grabbed my hand and sat me down next to him, and pointed out all of his favorite couples he was watching and we watched together for 2 songs or so. Then he asked me to dance. I was honored, and felt so special and incredible. And we shoobity bop bop bowed the song away.

I miss you Frankie.

Article in the NY Daily News.

Thank you Frankie.

For those that aren't on Twitter, it's amazing seeing the expressions of sadness and condolence going on live from around the world:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=frankie manning

thank you! you've done more than you can imagine!

He was nothing short of the embodiment of pure joy.

Last night our Lindy team had an engagement party for two of our teammates, Cliff and Alanna. We started playing some games and it got really really silly and I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard or had that much fun. And I found it amusing on the way home how many of our teammates changed their facebook status to say how they don't recall the last time they had laughed so hard.

It's been a rough six months (actually really probably a rough two years) for me personally and yet here I was able to let loose and laugh so hard. Sheri said the same and added that it was interesting to think that we may not have met all these wonderful people and had such an awesome time tonight if it weren't for Lindy Hop and who knows where Lindy Hop would be if it weren't for Frankie.

Sheri and I had already heard about Frankie's health and it was so strange and yet maybe even fitting that on the day where I was already sad hearing about his health and on the day his health took a turn for the worst, it was the same day we spend with a bunch of folks we met through Lindy and I was able to let go so much and laugh so hard.

I guess my point is, maybe I'm just being irrational after getting so few hours of sleep waiting to hear more news, sending thoughts and prayers, and just contemplating .... but for some reason it's hard to feel sad ..because everytime I think of Frankie all these images come up of his infectious smile and youthful, tireless, and carefree energy.

And maybe it was that day since I was thinking so much of him and I kept seeing these images of him just laughing and just being so carefree that it really helped me to let go that night.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks Frankie.

This is one of my favorite photos. It's from ALHC 2008. Most of our team had never traveled outside of So.Cal for events before .. we weren't able to take the whole team but we took half the team and we were all very very excited to get their photo taken with Frankie.

When I was 10 years old, my mother and my aunts all cried when Elvis died. Many of my friends' mothers cried, too, and we just couldn't understand. None of these people even knew him.

I think I get it now.

RIP Frankie.

Frankie was once the guest instructor for a Margaret B's dance class I took ten years ago. He stopped me mid-swing out and dropped some wisdom that I never forget on or off the dancefloor.

"When you dance, you have to make your partner feel like their the only girl in the room."

The connection that he inspired made me a better and more attentive dancer and person. Thank you Frankie, for everything. Salute.

Back in 1998 the swing/lindy scene in Madison was brand new. People started talking about going to a big "Frankie" weekend in the Twin Cities. Didn't know what that was about until they came back all aglow. During that weekend a special connection was made between the Twin Cities and Madison scenes.

Since I missed out on the Twin Cities weekend, I made it a point to take a Frankie Manning workshop weekend in Chicago a few months later even though I was still a beginner. It was so strenuous keeping up with the man, already in his eighties, that I limped on both feet all the way to and from the subway to the hotel. I did manage to keep up with the electric slide lesson he always used as a way to get people moving to the music before getting down to business.

Finally, several years later Frankie came to Madison and conducted a workshop here, so I got to take one workshop taught by him once I was actually prepared to really learn something.

During that workshop, two follows from Milwaukee and I (all in our fifties at the time) had a conversation in which one of them said, "After learning about Frankie and taking classes from him, I've lost my fear of old age. He's set the example for all of us." We all agreed.

That same weekend, my son (now nineteen) took the same class. I think he was the youngest student in the room. Today I had to tell him the news.

So now, the torch has been passed on to all of us. The best memorial we can offer for Frankie Manning is to step up and do what he asked of us shortly before his death .. to be the Ambassadors of Swing for future generations.

This should not be hard ... we do it every time we gather and dance. Especially to Shiny Stockings and Easy Does It.

I'll be playing both next week when I DJ.

I just watched the Hellzapoppin' video again for the first time in years. Those stretches with Frankie going off are so fantastic! You see in the young man the same life and joy that we all saw in him up to the end.

So inspiring!

I'm glad he didn't suffer for long, but he will be greatly missed.

Quoted from "r_c_s"
When I was 10 years old, my mother and my aunts all cried when Elvis died. Many of my friends' mothers cried, too, and we just couldn't understand. None of these people even knew him. I think I get it now.

I completely agree! :cry: