It is with great regret that we inform you that legendary lindy hopper and inspiration to tens of thousands of dancers around the world Mr. Frankie Manning passed away peacefully early this morning. Donations in lieu of flowers should be made to "Frankie Manning Fund" in his honor: Frankie…
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
Before taking Frankie's workshop back in 1999, I thought I was in love with swing. After it was over, I knew I was.
Never have I known of anyone who was able to see and bring out the very best in people like Frankie could. Earlier in the thread someone mentioned that to Frankie, all women were ladies and all men were gentlemen. This is how Frankie saw the world. It didn't matter your age, race, attractiveness, level of talent, attitude, aptitude, language, culture, social standing, or motivations. When Frankie was in the room, everyone was good. Everyone was worthy of the best. Everyone had swing inside of them - it just had to be brought out. And everyone who learned from Frankie quickly understood how swing can bring pure joy. Frankie taught us that each of us has it within ourselves to bring pure joy to each other through this music and this dance. How powerful is that?
I never met Frankie in person, but if I could meet him now, I would say: Thank you, Frankie. The way you lived, danced, and loved is a legacy that will live on in every corner of the globe.
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
I've been so sad all day, since getting this news. If only Frankie could have made it one more month to celebrate his birthday. We will just have to swing like crazy and celebrate his life in NYC next month. I know he will be watching us from somewhere with that big smile of his. I feel so honored to have known and danced with Frankie for the last 20 years. And I'm so glad that I got to see him recently in Oakland and give him a big hug. My heart goes out to Judy, Chazz, and all who loved him. Frankie, you will never be forgotten! :(
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
Frankie had an amazing and full life. How many people get to strut around the world in their 80's and 90's, completely relive their youth, and be an inspiration to others when young and old.
His story reminds me of something that one of our local balboa old-timers (Ernie Rubin) said to me. He told me he used to feel like a dinosaur doing this dance he loved that nobody else was doing. It gave him so much pleasure to see people dancing balboa once again.
I can only imagine how much pleasure it must have given Frankie to see the spread and resurgence of Lindy Hop. Actually, I don't have to imagine -- you can see it in his smile.
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
I spoke with Frankie Manning only twice.
One time I asked him about the time that Guy Lombardo and his orchestra came up to the Savoy ballroom drawing a huge crowd with is very sweet brand of music, none of which had any Jazz roots. I asked Frankie if her went and he smiled and said - 'I skipped that night'. Haha.
The other time was in the late 90s at some nighttime event at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. I was trying to find my way in from the back of the building and Frankie Manning was trying to find his way out. When I actually got in the building, he told me the way to the event - but before we met - there he was all by himself in a brilliantly lit portion of the building with absolutely no one else in sight. It was like seeing him on a stage all by himself before a show that was about to begin.
This image has stayed in my mind for a decade now - just a man in a cap with bright lights all around him, walking on a stage, just taking some time for himself before it all would begin again.
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
I just keep thinking of that smile, that megawatt smile of his. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times throughout my almost 12 years of dancing, taking his workshops and attending a couple of birthday parties, and I finally got a short dance with him when he came to New Orleans a few years ago to teach a basic lindy workshop at Tulane. There must have been 100 people in the ballroom, most of whom had never heard of lindy hop until that day.
In one hour, he had everyone doing the basic, and getting it.
I was aware of Frankie pretty early on in my dancing, and he has been a constant source of inspiration to me, and today, I feel a little guilty that I haven't been dancing lately as much as I used to. I feel like I owe it to him to get back out there and keep his torch alive.
Tonight in New Orleans, we're having a Second Line in Frankie's honor. He deserves to be done up right, y'all.
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
I was in a Frankie workshop in Melbourne in 2002. He was teaching the Shake and Bake to a class of a hundred or so and as he was walking down the line of practicing dancers he stopped looked and me and said "ooohhh Shake it Baby" and laughed his special laugh.
I had to leave early and managed to have a 5 min conversation with him and got him to sign my copy of Hellzapoppin'. I had rushed out without reading what he had written but when I opened it there on the inside was "Keep it Shaking Baby Frankie"
Originally posted Monday, April 27, 2009 (3 years ago)
Haven't posted on Yehoodi in months, but spotted Frankie at the 2007 and 2008 Lindyfests. Just watching the 2007 Lindyfest DVD with the clip of him leading the Shim Sham (including myself in the crowd) at the old Arabia Shriners ballroom in Houston. My thoughts and prayers go to all fans of him and his work RIP, Frankie; thanks for all of what you've accomplished. Frankie may be gone, the Lindy spirit is still alive and running.
:(
Originally posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (3 years ago)
Quoted from "apostle" Mr. Manning went on to compose dance steps for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Spike Lee film "Malcolm X," in which he taught the Lindy Hop to actor Denzel Washington.
a link to a clip of the lindy hop scene in Malcolm X that's referenced in the Washington Post:
(http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/04/lindy_hop_pioneer_dies.html)
Originally posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (3 years ago)
I've been tweaking this a little bit all day, and thought it time to post it to Yehoodi...
Thoughts on the occasion of the passing of Frankie Manning, lindy-hop pioneer: April 27th, 2009
Condolences to Judy, Chazz, his family, and one and all whose lives he touched and affected.
Gratitude for the joy and inspiration he has given lindyhoppers worldwide for the last century and the blessing we have all had to have known him.
May it be god's will that I could, in my own lifetime, bring but a fraction of the joy and love to the world that he did in his...
A recent quote on mortality: We don t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well. -Randy Pausch (1960-2008), The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon: Thing is, Frankie managed to do both.
Who starts a new career in their 70s? The thing about Frankie is that he is a guy that we all want to be. He was the role model for how we ALL want to age. Being in his presence was always a joyful experience. While in the last year or so he had to slow things down, I saw him teach dance classes at age 93!
I've been preparing for this day for a while. Probably from when I heard he fell while in Europe and needed another hip replacement surgery. I'm glad he came out to Oakland this past Feb since I now live on the west coast and of course didn't randomly bump into him. It was looking unsure that he would actually make it, and I was certainly doubting it. In the end he did and the weekend was announced with less than a month of lead-time. Although he couldn't teach the dance classes, we had extended Q&A sessions with him which were a great time.
I had the pleasuring of meeting him a number of times in the last er, decade? and got to spend chunks of time with him at various events. He recognized me but it was not like he remembered my name- not unless you count being called "Jack" repeatedly. As a musician, it was great to be able to ask him to wax about the differences between whether he'd prefer dancing to Chuck Webb or to Count Basie, or find out who was a better dancer Ella or Billie? He was a living link to an era that I've studied for years and when I last saw him two months ago this past Feb and he was still sharp as a tack. Always happy to answer any of my random random off the wall questions - about shoes, record players, Dizzy Gillespie, guitar players, ballroom architecture... Some of his stories were retreads, some of the wit was boilerplate, but whenever you came up with a question, he was happy to answer it.
He would come out to random events in New York City when he was in town, and I would always lovingly harass him somehow by saying, "Man, they let YOU in here? aw jeez" or when he was getting escorted in as a VIP I would tell him, "Hey Buddy, the back of the line is over there". Always made him laugh...
It broke my heart this past winter when, during the Saturday night dance at the 2009 "Frankie Manning Weekend" in Oakland, he got up to dance with his girlfriend on the side of the floor in the middle of a particularly swingin' tune, and he had to sit back down after four bars. I never told anyone about that moment, I just happened to be standing by where he was sitting, but it crushed me.
As an artist that struggles with the results of my life's deicisions and abandoning one path for another, Frankie's life shows me that you are never too old to be a part of your love, never too old to pick up the guitar from where you left it. There are 30 years of his life that no lindy hopper ever talks about when he stopped dancing and worked at the post office. Thirty years! There were a couple of years during WWII that he refused to speak about as well that must have been traumatic but remain shrouded in mystery.
There is a Grateful Dead song [the last time I felt a passing like this, honestly, was when Jerry Garcia died - that I witnessed the effect of one life on so many others] that reminds me of mortality and our existence in this world. It's not the most profound quote, but it keeps me going:
The wheel is turning and you can't slow down, can't let go and you can't hold on, can't go back and you can't stand still,If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod,Big wheel turn by the grace of God,Every time that wheel turn 'round, Bound to cover just a little more ground. Bound to cover just a little more ground.
Some sentiments from friends:
Dan Newsome - There is a great sadness this day, but also joy whenever I think of you. I will remember you each and every day of my life as an inspiration, a role model, a wise, kind and great man. Goodbye Frankie, this world is better for having had you in it. I am forever changed by you, more than you will ever know. We love you.
Heidi Salerno - My heart goes out to Frankie's family & loved ones. We were all so blessed to get to spend such quality time with such an inspiration. While I hope for the miracle, this is a part of the next chapter in life and as he makes his journey he must know, through all the well wishes he has received, that we will all keep his memory alive in dance and in our hearts.
Who is Frankie? http://www.frankiemanning.com/bio.php
Frankie Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Manning
Hellzapoppin' - THE Immortal Frankie Choreography - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTg5V2oA_hY
Good Article - http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/04/27/frankie-manning-lindy-hop-pioneer-dies-94/
NY Daily News Brief - http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2009/04/27/2009-04-27_lindy_hop_great_hospitalized.html
The Washington Post - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/04/lindy_hop_pioneer_dies.html
Lindy Hop [from Ken Burn's Jazz?] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pMDf4ciCRs
Frankie interview in Australia from a few yrs back - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqQyggqvhK8
Frankie dancing with Sylvia Sykes 2006 - He's 92! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEUF8La2N54
Frankie interview in the 90s - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msC6iE5qS3Q
Frankie in the 80s - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e00F7OimG6U
Frankie interview in DC - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMwDm_EHW7o
Right now, it's 10pm, and even though I've got work tomorrow. I've got to run into the city and at least do a little dance...
Frankie always told me, "Keep Swingin' "
y i no haz signature? Come on people, make with the funny.
Originally posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (3 years ago)
There were hundreds of us, electrified from the weekend s energy, and when they introduced his name, we exploded: clapping our hands and whistling and cheering for this man and everything he had given, reveling in the passion we had found in his dance, until our rising elation lifted us from the floor and onto our feet, stomping the dance floor and hollering wildly until the room thundered and the mirrors shook with our collective euphoria, enveloping every person in the room, flooding it with gratitude and celebration of this beautiful old man who spent half of his life unable to buy a hamburger because of his brown skin, but who now sat silently with eyes misting in a sea of jubilant faces both light and dark, wrapped so completely in our love as our ovation refused to subside, instead growing louder and more fervent as we cheered with all our hearts for Frankie, for the dance, for the music, for ourselves, for each other, for yesterday and tomorrow and most of all for today; because we were alive, because we could.
Thank you, he said through tightened throat. Thank you.
Frankie was more than our champion. He was greater than a legend. He was something simpler, and far more profound: he was a man who lived joy. A joy he spread easily and freely with his affable nature and infectious grin. He taught us that dancing is more than a physical act: it is an exercise of the soul. It is an emotional event fusing body and spirit in innumerable combinations until together they cry as one, Yes! Yes I will live! Through all the sh t and the grace and the faults and the triumphs, through every darkness and every truth that I will face, YES, yes, yes I will live!
Honor Frankie by remembering the lessons he taught us. Celebrate. Celebrate anything; celebrate everything. Friends are everywhere. Stories live. Do what you love. Life will surprise you. Nothing s ever really gone. Embrace joy. And always live the dance.
Originally posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (3 years ago)
Riz, here's one more audio entry, from American Public Media's "The Story," which features long-form stories on par with This American Life, but it's a daily show.
Originally posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (3 years ago)
An amazing person.
I am so glad I was privileged to meet him and dance with him. He was at one of the first workshops I attended, and parts of it are still so vivid it's like watching a movie.
My most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
Originally posted Wednesday, April 29, 2009 (3 years ago)
Quoted from "Trazy" I knew Frankie as an important pioneer of Lindy Hop.
After hearing EmmySue's and others' stories about him, I've only just begun to realize what a great and genuine person he truly was.
The thing I loved about Frankie is that he didn't treat himself as though he was a "rockstar" ... The first night I met him, some years ago, we were at the New York Swing Dance Society dance at Irving Plaza. Frankie was standing up front, leaning up against the stage, watching the dances - I don't remember who was playing. I didn't really know who he was ... I was pretty new to the swing scene, someone had told me that was Frankie Manning, but I didn't understand the significance. So I went and asked him to dance - and he danced with me. I don't remember the song, but I remember Frankie telling me afterwards that I followed very nicely.
Over the years I've danced more with him, chatted with him, photographed him, and listened to others talk of him. And I know that if there were more people like him in the world, who approached others in the same kindly and honest way as he did, this world would be a whole lot better place.
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world" - Norman Vincent Peale.
Originally posted Wednesday, April 29, 2009 (3 years ago)
Cynthia Millman, thank you for preservering and working so hard to get Frankie's story published.
His voice comes so clearly through the pages and last night I sat down and listened to him telling me all his stories again. One of my favourite memories about Frankie is that he had a story about EVERYTHING.
I tested him once and asked him if he had a story about Singapore. See pages 193 to 194 for the story he told me.
Originally posted Wednesday, April 29, 2009 (3 years ago)
About a year or so ago I heard Frankie speak when he came out to Australia. He's such an amazing storyteller. When he talked about dancing at the Savoy his toes started tapping, his eye's lit up and that smile, man what a smile. I thought if only I could find half as much joy in this dance as Frankie Manning I'd be one happy man indeed.
On monday night (local time) it was the closing event for the Hullabaloo weekend in Perth, Australia. We'd had some great live music and wonderful dancing when the news came through. I'd heard that he wasn't in a good way but it was a shock all the same. There were tears and then we had the Shim Sham and danced to Shiny Stockings and kept dancing.
I can't think of a better tribute: Keep dancing. I think as long as we do, he'll never really be gone.
Originally posted Wednesday, April 29, 2009 (3 years ago)
The Houston Swing Dance Society www.hsds.org has compiled a few of our favorite memories of Frankie. We were always so honored to have him in our presence every year for Lindyfest. Frankie played a direct role in getting HSDS started with our first Frankie Manning workshop 13 years ago. He's been with us every year since. Frankie, you will be missed. You've touched our hearts and taught us to fly!
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Frankie Manning: May 26, 1914 - April 27, 2009
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I haven't posted on Yehoodi for years, but this inspired me to write.
Simply, Frankie was great, I will miss him.
Before taking Frankie's workshop back in 1999, I thought I was in love with swing. After it was over, I knew I was.
Never have I known of anyone who was able to see and bring out the very best in people like Frankie could. Earlier in the thread someone mentioned that to Frankie, all women were ladies and all men were gentlemen. This is how Frankie saw the world. It didn't matter your age, race, attractiveness, level of talent, attitude, aptitude, language, culture, social standing, or motivations. When Frankie was in the room, everyone was good. Everyone was worthy of the best. Everyone had swing inside of them - it just had to be brought out. And everyone who learned from Frankie quickly understood how swing can bring pure joy. Frankie taught us that each of us has it within ourselves to bring pure joy to each other through this music and this dance. How powerful is that?
I never met Frankie in person, but if I could meet him now, I would say: Thank you, Frankie. The way you lived, danced, and loved is a legacy that will live on in every corner of the globe.
I've been so sad all day, since getting this news. If only Frankie could have made it one more month to celebrate his birthday. We will just have to swing like crazy and celebrate his life in NYC next month. I know he will be watching us from somewhere with that big smile of his. I feel so honored to have known and danced with Frankie for the last 20 years. And I'm so glad that I got to see him recently in Oakland and give him a big hug. My heart goes out to Judy, Chazz, and all who loved him. Frankie, you will never be forgotten! :(
Frankie had an amazing and full life. How many people get to strut around the world in their 80's and 90's, completely relive their youth, and be an inspiration to others when young and old.
His story reminds me of something that one of our local balboa old-timers (Ernie Rubin) said to me. He told me he used to feel like a dinosaur doing this dance he loved that nobody else was doing. It gave him so much pleasure to see people dancing balboa once again.
I can only imagine how much pleasure it must have given Frankie to see the spread and resurgence of Lindy Hop. Actually, I don't have to imagine -- you can see it in his smile.
Thanks Frankie!
ALL OUR BASE ARE BELONG TO HIM.
:(
Washington Post
I spoke with Frankie Manning only twice.
One time I asked him about the time that Guy Lombardo and his orchestra came up to the Savoy ballroom drawing a huge crowd with is very sweet brand of music, none of which had any Jazz roots. I asked Frankie if her went and he smiled and said - 'I skipped that night'. Haha.
The other time was in the late 90s at some nighttime event at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. I was trying to find my way in from the back of the building and Frankie Manning was trying to find his way out. When I actually got in the building, he told me the way to the event - but before we met - there he was all by himself in a brilliantly lit portion of the building with absolutely no one else in sight. It was like seeing him on a stage all by himself before a show that was about to begin.
This image has stayed in my mind for a decade now - just a man in a cap with bright lights all around him, walking on a stage, just taking some time for himself before it all would begin again.
I just keep thinking of that smile, that megawatt smile of his. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times throughout my almost 12 years of dancing, taking his workshops and attending a couple of birthday parties, and I finally got a short dance with him when he came to New Orleans a few years ago to teach a basic lindy workshop at Tulane. There must have been 100 people in the ballroom, most of whom had never heard of lindy hop until that day.
In one hour, he had everyone doing the basic, and getting it.
I was aware of Frankie pretty early on in my dancing, and he has been a constant source of inspiration to me, and today, I feel a little guilty that I haven't been dancing lately as much as I used to. I feel like I owe it to him to get back out there and keep his torch alive.
Tonight in New Orleans, we're having a Second Line in Frankie's honor. He deserves to be done up right, y'all.
Save me a swingout in heaven, Frankie.
I was in a Frankie workshop in Melbourne in 2002. He was teaching the Shake and Bake to a class of a hundred or so and as he was walking down the line of practicing dancers he stopped looked and me and said "ooohhh Shake it Baby" and laughed his special laugh.
I had to leave early and managed to have a 5 min conversation with him and got him to sign my copy of Hellzapoppin'. I had rushed out without reading what he had written but when I opened it there on the inside was "Keep it Shaking Baby Frankie"
I'll always smile when I think of you
Thanks Frankie
Dianne
And, here is a link to the Washington Post blog, as the Post mentioned on Twitter earlier today.
did the t's get taken down? I went back to buy one and it says "no matches"
Haven't posted on Yehoodi in months, but spotted Frankie at the 2007 and 2008 Lindyfests. Just watching the 2007 Lindyfest DVD with the clip of him leading the Shim Sham (including myself in the crowd) at the old Arabia Shriners ballroom in Houston. My thoughts and prayers go to all fans of him and his work RIP, Frankie; thanks for all of what you've accomplished. Frankie may be gone, the Lindy spirit is still alive and running. :(
a link to a clip of the lindy hop scene in Malcolm X that's referenced in the Washington Post: (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/04/lindy_hop_pioneer_dies.html)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNv7ivtkxW8
The New York Times finally has their obit up. It's very thorough, although I wish it were a bit more colorful.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/arts/dance/28manning.html
I've been tweaking this a little bit all day, and thought it time to post it to Yehoodi... Thoughts on the occasion of the passing of Frankie Manning, lindy-hop pioneer: April 27th, 2009
Condolences to Judy, Chazz, his family, and one and all whose lives he touched and affected.
Gratitude for the joy and inspiration he has given lindyhoppers worldwide for the last century and the blessing we have all had to have known him.
May it be god's will that I could, in my own lifetime, bring but a fraction of the joy and love to the world that he did in his...
A recent quote on mortality: We don t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well. -Randy Pausch (1960-2008), The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon: Thing is, Frankie managed to do both.
Who starts a new career in their 70s? The thing about Frankie is that he is a guy that we all want to be. He was the role model for how we ALL want to age. Being in his presence was always a joyful experience. While in the last year or so he had to slow things down, I saw him teach dance classes at age 93!
I've been preparing for this day for a while. Probably from when I heard he fell while in Europe and needed another hip replacement surgery. I'm glad he came out to Oakland this past Feb since I now live on the west coast and of course didn't randomly bump into him. It was looking unsure that he would actually make it, and I was certainly doubting it. In the end he did and the weekend was announced with less than a month of lead-time. Although he couldn't teach the dance classes, we had extended Q&A sessions with him which were a great time.
I had the pleasuring of meeting him a number of times in the last er, decade? and got to spend chunks of time with him at various events. He recognized me but it was not like he remembered my name- not unless you count being called "Jack" repeatedly. As a musician, it was great to be able to ask him to wax about the differences between whether he'd prefer dancing to Chuck Webb or to Count Basie, or find out who was a better dancer Ella or Billie? He was a living link to an era that I've studied for years and when I last saw him two months ago this past Feb and he was still sharp as a tack. Always happy to answer any of my random random off the wall questions - about shoes, record players, Dizzy Gillespie, guitar players, ballroom architecture... Some of his stories were retreads, some of the wit was boilerplate, but whenever you came up with a question, he was happy to answer it. He would come out to random events in New York City when he was in town, and I would always lovingly harass him somehow by saying, "Man, they let YOU in here? aw jeez" or when he was getting escorted in as a VIP I would tell him, "Hey Buddy, the back of the line is over there". Always made him laugh...
It broke my heart this past winter when, during the Saturday night dance at the 2009 "Frankie Manning Weekend" in Oakland, he got up to dance with his girlfriend on the side of the floor in the middle of a particularly swingin' tune, and he had to sit back down after four bars. I never told anyone about that moment, I just happened to be standing by where he was sitting, but it crushed me.
As an artist that struggles with the results of my life's deicisions and abandoning one path for another, Frankie's life shows me that you are never too old to be a part of your love, never too old to pick up the guitar from where you left it. There are 30 years of his life that no lindy hopper ever talks about when he stopped dancing and worked at the post office. Thirty years! There were a couple of years during WWII that he refused to speak about as well that must have been traumatic but remain shrouded in mystery.
There is a Grateful Dead song [the last time I felt a passing like this, honestly, was when Jerry Garcia died - that I witnessed the effect of one life on so many others] that reminds me of mortality and our existence in this world. It's not the most profound quote, but it keeps me going: The wheel is turning and you can't slow down, can't let go and you can't hold on, can't go back and you can't stand still,If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will. Small wheel turn by the fire and rod,Big wheel turn by the grace of God,Every time that wheel turn 'round, Bound to cover just a little more ground. Bound to cover just a little more ground.
Some sentiments from friends: Dan Newsome - There is a great sadness this day, but also joy whenever I think of you. I will remember you each and every day of my life as an inspiration, a role model, a wise, kind and great man. Goodbye Frankie, this world is better for having had you in it. I am forever changed by you, more than you will ever know. We love you.
Heidi Salerno - My heart goes out to Frankie's family & loved ones. We were all so blessed to get to spend such quality time with such an inspiration. While I hope for the miracle, this is a part of the next chapter in life and as he makes his journey he must know, through all the well wishes he has received, that we will all keep his memory alive in dance and in our hearts.
Who is Frankie? http://www.frankiemanning.com/bio.php Frankie Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Manning Hellzapoppin' - THE Immortal Frankie Choreography - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTg5V2oA_hY
Good Article - http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/04/27/frankie-manning-lindy-hop-pioneer-dies-94/ NY Daily News Brief - http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2009/04/27/2009-04-27_lindy_hop_great_hospitalized.html The Washington Post - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/04/lindy_hop_pioneer_dies.html
Lindy Hop [from Ken Burn's Jazz?] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pMDf4ciCRs Frankie interview in Australia from a few yrs back - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqQyggqvhK8 Frankie dancing with Sylvia Sykes 2006 - He's 92! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEUF8La2N54 Frankie interview in the 90s - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msC6iE5qS3Q Frankie in the 80s - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e00F7OimG6U Frankie interview in DC - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMwDm_EHW7o
Right now, it's 10pm, and even though I've got work tomorrow. I've got to run into the city and at least do a little dance...
Frankie always told me, "Keep Swingin' "
y i no haz signature? Come on people, make with the funny.
There were hundreds of us, electrified from the weekend s energy, and when they introduced his name, we exploded: clapping our hands and whistling and cheering for this man and everything he had given, reveling in the passion we had found in his dance, until our rising elation lifted us from the floor and onto our feet, stomping the dance floor and hollering wildly until the room thundered and the mirrors shook with our collective euphoria, enveloping every person in the room, flooding it with gratitude and celebration of this beautiful old man who spent half of his life unable to buy a hamburger because of his brown skin, but who now sat silently with eyes misting in a sea of jubilant faces both light and dark, wrapped so completely in our love as our ovation refused to subside, instead growing louder and more fervent as we cheered with all our hearts for Frankie, for the dance, for the music, for ourselves, for each other, for yesterday and tomorrow and most of all for today; because we were alive, because we could.
Thank you, he said through tightened throat. Thank you.
Frankie was more than our champion. He was greater than a legend. He was something simpler, and far more profound: he was a man who lived joy. A joy he spread easily and freely with his affable nature and infectious grin. He taught us that dancing is more than a physical act: it is an exercise of the soul. It is an emotional event fusing body and spirit in innumerable combinations until together they cry as one, Yes! Yes I will live! Through all the sh t and the grace and the faults and the triumphs, through every darkness and every truth that I will face, YES, yes, yes I will live!
Honor Frankie by remembering the lessons he taught us. Celebrate. Celebrate anything; celebrate everything. Friends are everywhere. Stories live. Do what you love. Life will surprise you. Nothing s ever really gone. Embrace joy. And always live the dance.
May he be laid out in a "Lavender Coffin" on his way to "Lindy Hop Heaven" where I'm sure he'll be in the "Corner Pocket".
Greg
"Corner Pocket" was the first Lindy song Frankie hipped me to back at Sandra Cameron's.
Riz, here's one more audio entry, from American Public Media's "The Story," which features long-form stories on par with This American Life, but it's a daily show.
http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_286_Frankie_Manning.mp3/podcast.xml
Apparently so. I could not access it late last night either. No search results. : (
Goodbye, Frankie! You are dancing in my heart every time I get out on the floor...
An amazing person.
I am so glad I was privileged to meet him and dance with him. He was at one of the first workshops I attended, and parts of it are still so vivid it's like watching a movie.
My most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
Still crying. :(
I knew Frankie as an important pioneer of Lindy Hop.
After hearing EmmySue's and others' stories about him, I've only just begun to realize what a great and genuine person he truly was.
My story another time, when I find the picture. One of my favorite pictures of all time.
For now, some wise words from a friend:
While we may all be sad that Frankie is gone, look at it this way: the dancing in heaven just got a whole lot better!
The thing I loved about Frankie is that he didn't treat himself as though he was a "rockstar" ... The first night I met him, some years ago, we were at the New York Swing Dance Society dance at Irving Plaza. Frankie was standing up front, leaning up against the stage, watching the dances - I don't remember who was playing. I didn't really know who he was ... I was pretty new to the swing scene, someone had told me that was Frankie Manning, but I didn't understand the significance. So I went and asked him to dance - and he danced with me. I don't remember the song, but I remember Frankie telling me afterwards that I followed very nicely.
Over the years I've danced more with him, chatted with him, photographed him, and listened to others talk of him. And I know that if there were more people like him in the world, who approached others in the same kindly and honest way as he did, this world would be a whole lot better place.
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world" - Norman Vincent Peale.
Cynthia Millman, thank you for preservering and working so hard to get Frankie's story published.
His voice comes so clearly through the pages and last night I sat down and listened to him telling me all his stories again. One of my favourite memories about Frankie is that he had a story about EVERYTHING.
I tested him once and asked him if he had a story about Singapore. See pages 193 to 194 for the story he told me.
Thank you again, Cynthia.
thanks frankie!
RIP.
About a year or so ago I heard Frankie speak when he came out to Australia. He's such an amazing storyteller. When he talked about dancing at the Savoy his toes started tapping, his eye's lit up and that smile, man what a smile. I thought if only I could find half as much joy in this dance as Frankie Manning I'd be one happy man indeed.
On monday night (local time) it was the closing event for the Hullabaloo weekend in Perth, Australia. We'd had some great live music and wonderful dancing when the news came through. I'd heard that he wasn't in a good way but it was a shock all the same. There were tears and then we had the Shim Sham and danced to Shiny Stockings and kept dancing.
I can't think of a better tribute: Keep dancing. I think as long as we do, he'll never really be gone.
So many different threads at this point, understandably. But any news on funeral arrangements yet?
The Houston Swing Dance Society www.hsds.org has compiled a few of our favorite memories of Frankie. We were always so honored to have him in our presence every year for Lindyfest. Frankie played a direct role in getting HSDS started with our first Frankie Manning workshop 13 years ago. He's been with us every year since. Frankie, you will be missed. You've touched our hearts and taught us to fly!
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