Frankie Manning created the first Lindy airstep and synchronized ensemble Lindy routines. Earlier he had developed the style of dancing more horizontally to the floor in order to create a wilder, abandoned effect. The famed Savoy Ballroom in Harlem was the center of the universe for Lindy hoppers. Encouraged by Herbert ’Whitey’ White, a Savoy bouncer, Manning and a new generation of enthusiastic young dancers continued to expand the vocabulary of floor steps as well as airsteps. This feverishly creative period was often stoked by a friendly competitiveness among the dancers for prizes awarded at weekly dance contests held at the Savoy, the Apollo Theatre, and at the annual Harvest Moon Ball competition in Madison Square Garden that began in 1935. Impromptu performances for appreciative, often tipping, Savoy patrons also inspired the dancers.

In the mid-1930s, as the swing music of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, and others was embraced by the nation, the Lindy Hop became the rage among the younger set. From the latter half of this decade onward, the Lindy Hop was commonly known as the jitterbug. This enormously popular social dance, as practiced by the masses, might have lacked the acrobatic airsteps of performance Lindy but not its enthusiasm or energy.

 

Whitey began organizing professional dance troupes in 1936. Appearing under various names, but most often as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, his groups toured the globe until World War II; they performed in nightclubs, theaters, revues, on Broadway (Hot Mikado, 1939; Swingin' the Dream, 1939), at the 1939 World's Fair Hall of Music, in a soundie (a brief film shown in jukeboxes to accompany the record) with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (Hot Chocolates, 1941), and in several films, including A Day at the Races (1937), Hellzapoppin' (1941), Sugar Hill Masquerade (1942) and Killer Diller (1948).

These exceptionally talented dancers were known for their frenetic ensemble routines, uniquely expressive solos, and breathtakingly daring airsteps. Manning, recruited by Whitey as a dancer, soon became his chief choreographer as the young man's choreographic and leadership talents became apparent. Among the many notable dancers in the troupe were Norma Miller, Willamae Ricker, Leon James, and Al Minns.

The term swing dance became associated with the Lindy as swing music came into vogue. After the war, swing dancing slowly declined in popularity as other social dances, particularly non-touch dance types (the twist was a huge cause of the decline of partnered dancing), came into favour and big bands became too expensive to run and hire.
A revival of swing dance took place in the mid-1980s in Amercia, Sweden and London, and the revival has continued.

Films containing Lindyhop

• After Seben – 1929 Short featuring Shorty George Snowden
• Day at the Races – Marx Brothers
• Hellzapoppin’ – shows Whitey’s Lindyhoppers at their best choreographed by Frankie Manning and Dean Collins & Martha Raye dancing to ’Watch the Birdie’
• Manhattan Merry-go-Round – musical review with Cab Calloway, Louis Prima
• Radio City Revels - 1938
• Big Apple (Jittering Jitterbugs) – 1937 Short from Keep Punchin’
• Hot Chocolates (Cottontail) – 1942 Soundie
• Killer Diller – 1948 featuring the Congaroo Dancers
• Malcolm X – 1992 [airsteps are shown in this film as being done on the dance floor but in reality they were only used in competitions and demos]

Of course on today's dance floors, the accent is on social Lindyhop, aerials are saved for demo or performance and competitions.