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oyceterFrankie Manning's one of the giant names in lindy hop -- he invented the first aerial (the throws you usually see in movies) and choreographed the first ensemble lindy routine, he was a key choreographer and dancer in the very influential Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, he started dancing less upright and more angled to the ground (now a tell-tale feature of lindy), and he's been one of the key resources in the late lindy revival, along with Norma Miller.
And for what he didn't do himself, he was there to witness -- the formation of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, George "Shorty" Snowden coining the name "lindy hop" after Lindbergh's hop across the Atlantic, the birth of lindy as a dance separate from the Charleston and collegiate shag, and the growth of the Savoy Ballroom as one of the centers of lindy.
His biography is fun to read as well; Millman preserves Manning's casual voice and his love of pranks and his modesty shines through. It's a little hard to see how influential Manning is just from his biography, as he has a tendency to downplay his role in things.
My favorite parts were the ones about the birth of lindy, from Manning dancing at the Renaissance Ballroom and later "graduating" to the Savoy, the development of swing-outs and breakaways, watching all the dancers playing with Charleston and incorporating steps and improvising, all the things that I love about lindy today. Unfortunately, that's just one part of the book. Most of the rest of it is on Manning's career as a professional dancer and choreographer in Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a loose group that eventually branched out to many dancers and groups, all under the management of Herbert "Whitey" White (named so after the white stripe in his hair, not because he was white).
I'm not particularly interested in the backstage of show business, and usually when I am, it's on a more sociological and less personal level. I got the feeling that Manning didn't particularly like blaming anyone or anything; his comments about racism and sexism are fairly minor and usually confined to the most egregious examples, or examples that turned out in his favor. I don't blame him for this, and I was mostly able to fill in the blanks from what I got out of Dixon Gottschild's Waltzing in the Dark, a sociological critique of race politics in the swing era dance industry.
I would have also liked more pictures and video footage to go along with Manning's explanations and am sad that we have no film records of normal social dancing at the Savoy (most swing era lindy hop we see is from two films, both of which Manning was involved in, and it's much more showy and exhibition-focused than social lindy). I would have also liked more of Manning's thoughts on the swing revival starting around the 1980s, particularly on how style has changed and the race differences, but most of that chapter just focused on how happy he was to be dancing again (which is awesome!).
So, for those interested in lindy hop history, the second and last sections were the most interesting for me. There's not much sociological analysis, but as a first-hand narrative, we probably aren't going to get anything better, given that Shorty Snowden and Whitey White passed away a while ago (Norma Miller! Write a biography?). For those interested in show business, I suspect the other sections will be much more interesting. In conclusion: a very necessary read for lindy history, even though I got bored at times.
And for what he didn't do himself, he was there to witness -- the formation of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, George "Shorty" Snowden coining the name "lindy hop" after Lindbergh's hop across the Atlantic, the birth of lindy as a dance separate from the Charleston and collegiate shag, and the growth of the Savoy Ballroom as one of the centers of lindy.
His biography is fun to read as well; Millman preserves Manning's casual voice and his love of pranks and his modesty shines through. It's a little hard to see how influential Manning is just from his biography, as he has a tendency to downplay his role in things.
My favorite parts were the ones about the birth of lindy, from Manning dancing at the Renaissance Ballroom and later "graduating" to the Savoy, the development of swing-outs and breakaways, watching all the dancers playing with Charleston and incorporating steps and improvising, all the things that I love about lindy today. Unfortunately, that's just one part of the book. Most of the rest of it is on Manning's career as a professional dancer and choreographer in Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a loose group that eventually branched out to many dancers and groups, all under the management of Herbert "Whitey" White (named so after the white stripe in his hair, not because he was white).
I'm not particularly interested in the backstage of show business, and usually when I am, it's on a more sociological and less personal level. I got the feeling that Manning didn't particularly like blaming anyone or anything; his comments about racism and sexism are fairly minor and usually confined to the most egregious examples, or examples that turned out in his favor. I don't blame him for this, and I was mostly able to fill in the blanks from what I got out of Dixon Gottschild's Waltzing in the Dark, a sociological critique of race politics in the swing era dance industry.
I would have also liked more pictures and video footage to go along with Manning's explanations and am sad that we have no film records of normal social dancing at the Savoy (most swing era lindy hop we see is from two films, both of which Manning was involved in, and it's much more showy and exhibition-focused than social lindy). I would have also liked more of Manning's thoughts on the swing revival starting around the 1980s, particularly on how style has changed and the race differences, but most of that chapter just focused on how happy he was to be dancing again (which is awesome!).
So, for those interested in lindy hop history, the second and last sections were the most interesting for me. There's not much sociological analysis, but as a first-hand narrative, we probably aren't going to get anything better, given that Shorty Snowden and Whitey White passed away a while ago (Norma Miller! Write a biography?). For those interested in show business, I suspect the other sections will be much more interesting. In conclusion: a very necessary read for lindy history, even though I got bored at times.
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