{"id":5625,"date":"2021-10-12T01:56:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T06:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=5625"},"modified":"2021-10-12T01:58:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T06:58:42","slug":"frankie-manning-shorty-george-savoy-ballroom-the-people-and-places-of-early-lindy-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/10\/12\/frankie-manning-shorty-george-savoy-ballroom-the-people-and-places-of-early-lindy-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"Frankie Manning, “Shorty George”, Savoy Ballroom: The People and Places of Early Lindy Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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Frankie Manning in 1938, age 24 (from the Frankie Manning Foundation)<\/p><\/div>\r\n

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I first heard about Frankie Manning through my participation in St. Olaf Swing Club, where we learn to dance a style of swing called Lindy Hop. I watched a few videos of Manning dancing, and even learned to dance one of his signature moves, the \u201cFrankie sixes\u201d. However, besides Frankie Manning\u2019s name, I never felt like I knew much about the origins of Lindy Hop. Now, as a student officer of the St. Olaf Swing Club, I feel both an obligation and a curiosity to learn more.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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“Dancers in Savoy Ballroom 1953” (from Grove Music Online)<\/p><\/div>\r\n

Knowing also that Lindy Hop was created by Black dancers in America, I found that the African American Newspapers database was the perfect place to start piecing together Lindy Hop\u2019s origin story. A column from a newspaper published in Topeka, Kansas in 1931 advertised for a spring N.A.A.C.P. dance happening at the Savoy Ballroom, which would feature a \u201cNational Lindy Hopper\u2019s Contest\u201d at midnight. The Savoy Ballroom, located in Harlem in New York, ended up being mentioned in almost every source I found relating to Lindy Hop and the early Lindy Hop dancers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Savoy Ballroom can be spotted on the left edge of this 1933 map of nightclubs in Harlem (from the Library of Congress).<\/a><\/p>\r\n

A different segment in the exact same publication states outright that Lindy Hop originated in the Savoy Ballroom, as opposed to Broadway revues where the dance style had been made available to wider audiences in the U.S.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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“Harlem Credit for the Lindy Hop” (from Plaindealer)<\/p><\/div>\r\n

At the 1939 World\u2019s Fair in New York, a $100,000 theater was built to showcase the dance styles that had developed in the Savoy Ballroom. Fairgoers could pay 25 cents admission to enter the theater, where they could view 20-minute dance performances by \u201cthe country\u2019s greatest rhythm dancers\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n