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Question: Name a famous dancer who specializes in Swing!?
I need this for a paper I'm writing for school, but I can't seem to find anyone!. It has to be someone alive and dancing today!. Thank you!Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
OMG!!! YOu can write it about me!! Cuz guess what!!!?!.!.!.!.Im a FAMOUS swing dancer!!.!.!.sorry I didnt tell you!.!.!.I didnt want to rub my bodaciousness in your face :P hahahaWww@QuestionHome@Com

Benji Schwimmer!? He won So You Think You Can Dance Season 2!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Benji Schwimmer
Lacey Schwimmer
Or their cousin HeidiWww@QuestionHome@Com

There's only one answer to this question!!!!

FRANKIE MANNING!!!

Who is Frankie Manning you ask!? He's only the guy that created aerials in swing dancing!.

Frankie grew up in New York during the Harlem Renaissance, and in the 1930s he became one of the best dancers at the Savoy Ballroom!. The Savoy was known as the "Home of Happy Feet" and the best dancers would go there and rub elbows with celebrities and dance to two live bands a night!.

Early on the best dancer at the Savoy was "Shorty" George Snowden who danced with his partner "Big Bea"!. When they danced in a contest, at the end, she would always pick him up on her back (back to back) and carry him off the floor with his legs kicking!. After Frankie saw this, he got the idea of doing the same thing, only he would pick up the girl, and bend over, letting her roll over his back!.

They practiced this "Air-Step" until they got it down, and then entered a dance contest at the Savoy Ballroom!. They went up against Shorty George and Big Bea, but this time Frankie and his partner did their air-step in the contest and won first place!.

Ever since then, swing dancing has always involved aerials in it's performance aspect!.

Frankie went on to create most of the aerials seen today!. To see how amazing he really is, check out this video from the movie "Hellzapoppin (1941)":
http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=mTg5V2oA_!.!.!.
Frankie created most of the air-steps/tricks in this video, and is credited as the choreographer for this, "the greatest swing routine ever captured on film"!. (He's also the 4th guy to dance in the video!.)


Frankie Manning was also a source for the resurgence of swing dancing in the 80s and 90s!. Two dancers from California, Erin Stevens and Steven Mitchel, saw the Hellzapoppin swing dance clip, and wanted to learn how to do all of the air-steps in the video!. So they flew too New York and just opened a phone book and started calling every Manning in the book, and eventually found Frankie!.

Their enthusiasm for learning the dance, convinced Frankie to come out of retirement and start teaching and dancing again!. AND HE'S STILL DANCING AND TEACHING TODAY!!!

Frankie ended up being choreographer for the swing dance scene in the movie "Malcolm X" and won a Tony Award for co-choreography of the Broadway musical Black and Blue!. He also taught Ryan Francois, who was the choreographer for the movie "Swing Kids", which is became the start of the swing craze of the late 1990s!.


Frankie is celebrating his 95th Birthday in May with a giant swing dance event in New York!.
http://www!.frankie95!.com/


If you want to learn a lot more information, you should read his autobiography: "Frankie Manning, Ambassador of Lindy Hop"
http://www!.frankiemanning!.com/
(It's available on Amazon)

Here are some other sites that offer more information for you to read about:
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Frankie_Man!.!.!.
http://www!.streetswing!.com/histmai2/d2ma!.!.!.
http://www!.savoystyle!.com/frankie_mannin!.!.!.
http://www!.jitterbuzz!.com/frankie!.html


He is easily the most influential swing dancer of all time, and it's because of him that modern swing dancing exists, and there are Lindy Hop dance contests today! Like this video from a 2006 professional Lindy Hop competition:
http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=myJj0mNNe!.!.!.


Anyways, I hope that helps!


If you need someone younger, then you should consider Erin Stevens, Steven Mitchell, and Ryan Francois, for their influence on the new swing dancing generation!.



(FYI, the Schwimmer's are great at West Coast Swing, but WCS isn't danced to real swing music!. It's danced to pop/dance music!. West Coast Swing actually comes from the Lindy Hop, the dance that Frankie Manning is most famous for!. Without Frankie Manning, you wouldn't have Benji, Lacey or Heidi!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com