competition for White was the Shorty
George Snowden Trio, who most of the dancers followed at
the time... as his group was the first performance group in
Lindy Hop.
The Hoppers would go on to dominate the Lindy
Hop scene in contests and exhibition's for quite a few years
to come with even Shorty George working with them from time
to time. The Lindy hoppers incorporated the Flash Acts or "Acrobatics"
called Air-Steps into many of their routines. These acrobatics
were being performed by many dance stars previous to the Lindy
Hoppers for over 30 years prior, especially the Russian based
vaudeville dancers of the day, although Frankie Manning claims
to have invented them, he only helped introduce them into the
Lindy Hop along with legendary dancers Leon
James and Al
Minns (who were the kings until they passed away)
and Shorty Snowden.
There are some negative stories about Whitey
and his 'Strongmen' and the ethics he used to get dancers to
dance on his team from intimidation to strong arming and even
murder among rival "Gangs," how true these stories
are today are anyone's guess (but there are a few newspaper
pieces that lend some credence.) Marshall Sterns book entitled
Jazz dance gives a good view of some of this. However, historically,
this was to change the Lindy dance itself over time and the
dance scene for the better over history. The Whitey's Lindy
Hoppers did more for Lindy Hop than any other group in the world,
ever.
There were a few sub groups that would dance
when the main group was booked elsewhere, such as the 'Hopping
Maniacs, The Congeroo Dancers, Harlem Maniacs, The Congeroo's,
Savoy Lindy Hoppers, White's Steppers, The Big Appler's, The
Big Apple Dancers, etc. Two of the best WLH Lindy scenes are
in the movies: 'Day
At The Races' with the Marx Brothers and Olsen and Johnson's
'Hellzapoppin'.
The Lindy Hoppers also danced in a few Broadway musicals such
as the "Hot Mikado" with Bojangles, Black Rhythm [1936]
and the 1938 show at the Cotton
Club called the 'Cotton Club Revue' with Cab Calloway leading
the number called "A Lesson in Jive" - in which Whyte's
Lindy Hoppers danced in this show and the Boogie
Woogie was said to be introduced in the show as well.
Ballrooms
