Dance on Screen:
THE BIG APPLE

Choreographed in the 1930s by Frankie Manning, this routine eventually appeared in the 1939 film Keep Punchin’. Modern day dancers have scoured this footage learning the steps, and the Tshirts Frankie’s group wear have even become fashion trends in themselves.

Another dance created by Black dancers, this one developed in South Carolina. Big apple dances (called dances where competitors danced solo in a circle while jazz steps were called out) have been popular since the 1920s, and were hugely popular.

Today Frankie’s choreographed version of the Big Apple is danced socially all over the world, featuring sequences that are classic Frankie, and steps that are as old as the West African history of Black America.