The troupe toured extensively and made several films. Manning created the troupe's first ensemble routines and functioned as the group's de facto choreographer, although he was never officially credited with that title. In 1935, Herbert White organized the top Lindy Hop dancers at the Savoy Ballroom into a professional performance group that was eventually named Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. The air step he performed was a 'back-to-back roll' and was danced while Chick Webb played 'Down South Camp Meeting' at Manning's request. During a dance contest in 1935, Manning and his partner, Frieda Washington, performed the first aerial in a swing dance competition against George Snowden, the inventor of the term Lindy Hop, and his partner, Big Bea. He frequented the Savoy in the 1930s, eventually becoming a dancer in the elite and prestigious 'Kat's Corner,' a corner of the dance floor where impromptu exhibitions and competitions took place. When he was older, he started going to Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, the only integrated ballroom in New York. Manning started listening to records on a Victrola in his bedroom and would practice dancing with a broom or a chair. Watching from the balcony, he saw his mother dancing formal ballroom styles such as the foxtrot and waltz, having only seen her dance before in a much looser and casual style at neighborhood rent parties. In October 1927, Manning attended the Renaissance Ballroom & Casino. Manning's grandmother encouraged Frankie to dance with the others. On Saturdays, farmhands and locals would come to the farm to play music on the front porch with harmonicas and a washtub bass. Manning's mother sent him to spend summers with his father, aunt, and grandmother on their farm in Aiken, South Carolina. After his parents separated when he was three years old, he moved to Harlem with his mother, who was a dancer. Manning was born in 1914 in Jacksonville, Florida. Manning is considered one of the founders of Lindy Hop, an energetic form of the jazz dance style known as swing. Frank Manning (– April 27, 2009) was an American dancer, instructor, and choreographer.

Frankie Manning by Frankie Manning