Performance Troupe Wows 'em At Wild Week
Vol 1, Issue 1: Winter 1995
At a break during the second night of dancing at Wild Week, the Savoy Swing Club's Performance Troupe paid a special tribute to Frankie Manning. Frankie, who is eighty two, was seated front & center as the dancers burst out into the first number, Flying Home, choreographed by Frankie's protege Steven Mitchell during Wild Week '91. The piece, which has been seen before, never looked better! The audience, including dancers from twenty states and four countries, was truly excited by what they were seeing. Even though everyone was expecting the group to be good, it was as if they were taken by surprise by the superior quality of the performance. Some of the professional teachers who attended were visible at stage right - Chazz, Simon and Louise, and Daniel and Ann Marie - and their faces and clapping showed clearly how much they enjoyed it. The band looking on from the stage was also transfixed.
The second number, Sing Sing Sing - exquisitely choreographed by Guy Caridi - was the “piece de resistance.” Once again the professionalism, polish, and the enthusiasm of the troupe caught amazed everyone. After the performance, the applause was truly thunderous. It sounded like a buffalo stampede in a room that has known wildly excited applause (think back over seven Wild Weeks). I have never heard applause like that before and for such extended duration. It was truly a performance worthy of such an ovation.
Frankie was visibly moved by the performance and said that it had added fifteen years to his life. He also mentioned that he had thought about doing something to Sing Sing Sing, but after what the troupe had done, he was going to leave well enough alone (or words to that effect). Even the band commented on the performance, asking jokingly if they could see it again. To Guy Caridi, Artistic Director (who was presented with flowers in recognition of his leadership, skill, and hard work) and the other performers - Nancy Fry, Deborah Gardner, Kristine Hansen, Christine Nelson, Viola Spencer, Julie Walsh, Dave Atkinson, Winfield Hobbs, Keith Hughes, and Roger Mowery: it was truly a performance to remember and an occasion of pride for all members of the Savoy Swing Club.
-- David Paris