Dancing Dragons’ Den Triumph Spreads Swing Balls Nationwide! November Declared UK’s Inaugural Frankie Manning Month
Keds Shoes sponsor the UK’s most extensive series of swing dance events.
Thousands of dancers – from professionals to absolute beginners – will swing out at big Keds sponsored Swing Dance Balls across the UK from late October to the end of November. The balls commemorate Frankie Manning’s first UK tour as a lindy-hop legend.
The street dance style that Manning and other dancers popularized at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom in New York City from the late 1920s to the late 1940s is also known as “swing,” “jitterbug,” and “lindy hop.” Fusing style, energy, and fun, the dance was the precursor to jive, rock-and-roll, and hip-hop. It influences the most popular contemporary dance styles.
The BBC Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Deborah Meaden invested in the swing dance school Swing Patrol, which has named November UK Frankie Manning Month in honor of the Harlem lindy hopper who was the foremost authority on swing dancing. The timing matches Frankie Manning’s first tour of the UK, which included an appearance at the Royal Command Performance for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.
During his career, Frankie Manning performed steadily with jazz greats, including Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday, and he acted in numerous Hollywood films.
The Swing Dance Balls for UK Frankie Manning Month will be the most extensive series of swing dance events in the UK.
They are organized by Swing Patrol in collaboration with local swing dance scenes around the nation and kick off in Birmingham (25th October) before moving on to Manchester (1st November), Bristol (14th November), London (15th November), and Edinburgh (28th November).
Scott Cupit, the founder of Swing Patrol and a successful Dragons’ Den entrepreneur, hosts each Swing Dance Ball. They will lead lessons for hundreds of absolute beginners so everyone attending can get into the swing of the evening, even if they’ve never danced a step in their lives.
Then Swing Patrol’s professional performers will bust out some of Frankie Manning’s signature moves – including his favorite acrobatic lifts, jumps, and flips – to delight the guests. Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists, The London Gay Big Band, are just one of the bands that the crowds can swing out to as their night progresses with stylish, energetic fun, including games and dance competitions – with Keds footwear as prizes.
During UK Frankie Manning Month, Swing Patrol’s regular classes will focus on teaching Manning’s moves. Scott Cupit will also be talking about Frankie Manning, swing music, and dancing to jazz music – a pleasure that can elude many jazz fans.
Deborah Meaden, Dragons’ Den panelist and investor in Swing Patrol, said, “Before launching UK Frankie Manning Month, Scott showed me how successful his big swing dancing events are. Swing Patrol’s event hosts are charismatic; the teachers run lessons in which hundreds of people participate at once; the performances by Swing Patrol’s dancers are exhilarating; the bands are on fire – and everyone dances, even if they’ve just learned the steps.
I have brought friends and family of all ages to these events; like me, they all get caught up with the atmosphere extremely quickly. The Swing Dance Balls during Frankie Manning Month will swing the UK out.”
Noah Bernard, Brand Director of Keds, said, “The awareness of the mix of classic and contemporary style of swing dancing has rocketed since Swing Patrol’s success on Dragons’ Den. Keds must recognize its place within swing culture as lindy hoppers’ shoe of choice by contributing to the community’s success.
Swing is about head-to-toe style, authenticity, enthusiasm, and a sense of fun – which are core values of the Keds fashion brand. Teaming Swing Patrol’s Keds-wearing dancers with other dancers around the UK at the Swing Patrol Balls will spread the joy of this energetic, friendly and stylish pastime.”
Tickets for the Swing Patrol Balls are available at www.swingpatrol.co.uk. Don’t miss out!
