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Whitey's Lindy Hoppers

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Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was a professional performing group of Savoy Ballroom swing dancers, started in 1935 by Herbert "Whitey" White. The group took on many different forms, with up to 12 different groups performing under this name or one of a number of different names used for the group over the years, including Whitey's Hopping Maniacs, Harlem Congeroo Dancers, and The Hot Chocolates. In addition to touring both nationally and internationally, the group appeared in a number of feature films and Broadway productions and counted Dorothy Dandridge and Sammy Davis Jr. among their celebrity regulars. By the summer of 1943, with most of its best male dancers having been drafted, the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers had pretty much disbanded. The Savoy Ballroom closed in 1958.

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Of all the members of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Al Minns, Leon James and Frankie Manning are amongst the most famous -- Minns and James in part for their role in the research of Jean and Marshall Stearns's influential book Jazz Dance, Minns for his work with The Rhythm Hot Shots during the 1980s' swing revival, and Manning for his role, starting in 1986, in contributing to the swing and Lindy Hop revival after Minns died in 1985. Manning, Lennie Bluett and Norma Miller were among the few members of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers still alive during the 1990s and 2000s and were some of that era's most influential Lindy Hop performers and instructors. With Manning's death in April 2009, Miller alone remains to teach and lecture at dance workshops and Lindy Hop conventions.

Members

(partial list)

  • Louise "Pal" Andrews
  • Pettis Dotson "Snooky" Beasley
  • Lennie Bluett
  • John "Tiny" Bunch
  • Eunice Callen
  • Wilda Crawford
  • Mildred Cruse
  • Joe "Big Stupe" Daniels
  • Joyce "Little Stupe" Daniels
  • Eddie Davis
  • William Downes
  • Elnora Dyson
  • "Long-legged George" Greenidge
  • Connie Hill
  • Leon James
  • Ann Johnson
  • Dorothy "Dot" Johnson
  • Frances "Mickey" Jones
  • Thomas "Tops" Lee
  • Maggie McMillan
  • Frankie Manning
  • Lucille Middleton
  • Norma Miller
  • Al Minns
  • Mildred Pollard
  • Billy Ricker
  • Willamae Ricker
  • Eleanor "Stumpy" Watson
  • Naomi Waller
  • Esther Washington
  • Freida Washington
  • Billy Williams
  • Jerome Williams
  • Russell Williams/Rasul Ali Ibm Aleem
  • Jimmy Valentine
  • Ruthie Reingold
  • Harry Rosenberg
  • Filmography

  • A Day at the Races, MGM, 1937 (with the Marx Brothers)
  • Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, Republic Pictures, 1937
  • Radio City Revels, RKO Radio Pictures, 1938
  • Keep Punching, M.C. Pictures 1939 (aka Jittering Jitterbugs, featuring the Big Apple)
  • Hellzapoppin', Universal Pictures, 1941
  • Hot Chocolates (Cottontail), RCM Productions, 1941 Soundie
  • The Outline of Jitterbug History, RCM Productions, 3/23/42, Soundie
  • Sugar Hill Masquerade, Minoco Productions, 11/23/42 Soundie
  • Cabin in the Sky, MGM, 1943
  • Killer Diller, All-American News, 1948
  • Broadway features

  • Hot Mikado (with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson)
  • Black Rhythm (1936)
  • Cotton Club Revue (with Cab Calloway) (1938)
  • References

    Whitey's Lindy Hoppers Wikipedia