User:Madeleineog/sandbox12

Ann Johnson ( before 1984) was an American lindy hop dancer, and one of the favourite partners of Frankie Manning. The World Swing Dance Council describe her as "a second generation leading lady of Lindy".

Career
"ANN JOHNSON was one of Frankie’s two favorite partners because she was willing to try any movement, learned quickly, and could do all of the air steps. She began working for Whitey around 1938, appearing in Swingin’ the Dream and Keep Punching. She danced with Frankie in Hellzapoppin’, Hot Chocolate, and during the Brazilian tour. The duo was featured in a 1940 photo essay in Life, and in a picture-to-the-editor, also in Life, in 1941. Ann was Frankie's first partner in the Congaroos, and appeared with him in Killer Diller."The Congaroos' performance in Hellzapoppin ' has been called "The best lindy hop routine ever captured on film". The New York Times described Manning and Johnson's performance in the film as "a sensational acrobatic duet".

"The cover photo of Life featured Frankie Manning and Ann Johnson doing the Congaroo, a combination of the conga and Lindy Hop." "I don’t know who created the original handspring-front-flip, but it turned into handspring-down-the-back because of a similar accident. I used to be pretty strong, and I would throw Ann Johnson, my partner in the early 1940s, way up there. One time, she got scared and started falling over, so I caught her behind me. We started doing it on purpose, and had ourselves a new air step."1940 - Wins second place in Lindy competition with Ann Johnson at Harvest Moon Ball. Norma Miller wrote:"This time Frankie danced with Ann Johnson, and they developed a Mutiny routine that was sensational. It combined a series of flash steps, each step catapulting them into the next. This was where the Lindy Hop had come since 1935 and the first Harvest Moon Ball in which we were told to keep both feet on the floor, and to stay with our partners at all times. Everything had changed, the judges had put the Lindy into its own category, and most of the ballroom rules no longer applied to it."Morgan and Marvin Smith photographed Manning throwing Ann Johnson over his head while dancing at Big George’s Tavern, Corona, Long Island, New York. The photograph appeared in Life, 8 July 1940.