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Trickeration by Norma Miller

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Solo Jazz

The Trickeration is a routine choreographed by the late Norma Miller. One of the OG Lindy Hoppers who helped shape this dance into what it is today.

It’s a line dance routine that is known by many Lindy Hoppers around the world. And can be a challenging piece to learn for its complexity of movement and complicated choreography. But it’s a worthwhile learn for any aspiring solo jazz dancer.

The Global Trickeration Project by ILHC

Norma Miller

Norma Miller herself was around during the early days of Lindy Hop. Starting dancing at just 12 years old, and winning the prestigious Harvest Moon Ball at only 16 years of age. She was part of the famous Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers performance troupe and can be seen in many films including A Day at the Races and Hellzapoppin’.

In the 1980s she helped to bring swing dancing to a more international audience, travelling the world to teach and spread her love of the dance. And while she passed in 2018, memory of her remains and her legacy will live on, through the people who danced with her and her ‘Trickeration’ Choreography.

It’s no wonder that she was also named the ‘Queen of Swing’.

Trickeration

A line dance for everyone, there is some supposition that this choreography was used as an audition to get into Norma Miller’s dance troupes. Similar to another routine called ‘The Stops’. But whether there is any truth to that is up for debate.

All we know is that this routine is both challenging and fun and a great dance to pull out on the social floor when you hear a song that gets you going.

Typically, the song is danced to “Jive at Five” by Count Basie. But any cover of the song will do. Letting you practice to both slow and fast tempos.

Below is our take on the Trickeration. On the right is the classic take of the routine. While on the left, is a soft shoe tap remix.

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The Big APPLE

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The Big Apple Routine in Keep Punching ( Whitey’s Lindy Hopper)

Routine or Social Dance?

The Big Apple Routine (shown above) is a line dance choreographed by Frankie Manning and Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. It’s a Solo Jazz choreography made famous in the movie Keep Punching. In the modern Lindy Hop world, dancers enjoy dancing this routine on the social dance floor and on stage. Being a choreography that is a few step harder than the Shim Sham and Trankey Do.

However, the history of the Big Apple didn’t actually start as a Choreography. The original dance involved a caller calling spontaneously calling out moves. This was done as both a contest and socially.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRmEa89kutE[/embedyt]

Big Apple Contest at Frankie 100 (New York)

The original form of The Big Apple was invented around the 1930s and was popular throughout many of the dance halls in the US. In The video above, you can see an example of this form of the dance done in 2014 during what would have been Frankie’s 100th Birthday.

The First Apple

The origins of the dance seem to come from a club called the “Big Apple” in South Carolina. Where three white students heard the tunes from a juke joint and were let inside to watch from the rafters. The dancing they saw there – they decided to name after the club. Eventually trying to copy it on their own. (The State – Jeff Wilkinson)

The dance spread far and wide, reaching national popularity by 1937. Life Magazine even did a 4 page feature on it (although with white dancers) showing this unique dance.

Life Magazine, December 20th 1937

While we rarely dance the original form of this dance on the social floor. Modern Lindy Hoppers still have a go with Frankie’s choreography often. Connecting us to the storied history of those original jitterbugs showing showing off at a small club called The Big Apple in South Carolina.

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Mama Stew

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsUMwGZyU6g[/embedyt]

Florent Llamas, Jérémy Chanton, Ludovic Chanton, Fred Caputo & Niko Rodrigues Pacaswing at Swing Family Festival
Red Prysock – Hand Clappin’

The Mama Stew or Mama’s Stew routine is a solo choreography that once again comes to us from the origins of Swing. Its a routine that was routinely practiced by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and used as a warm up before they got onto the ‘real’ stuff.

The name comes from ‘Mama Lu & The Parkets’ who would perform the routine regularly. Louise “Mama Lou” Parks is actually the former hostess of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, and was also one of the dancers helping to bring Lindy Hop into the 21st century.

Check her out performing in this video from 2004 (WARNING: Potato quality).

The History of Mama Lou

Mama Lou started as a hat-check girl at the Savoy. But under the tutelage of dancers like George Sullivan, Delma “Big Nick” Nickerson and Lee Moates Mama Lu became a significant dancer in her own right.

After the Savoy Ballroom closed in 1943,  Charles Buchanan, the Manager of the Savoy, urged Mama Lou and her fellow dancers to take on the responsibility of staging the Lindy Hop preliminaries, at the new Savoy Manor in the Bronx, for the Harvest Moon Ball Dance Competition. Mama Lu was integral for keeping the tradition of the Harvest Moon Ball going for years to come. 

Mama Lou (right) and Her Parkets

By 1961 she had established a professional dance company mostly comprised of those who had won the Harvest Moon Ball, which had various names The Lou Parks Dancers, The Parkettes; Mama Lu Parks and her Jazz Dancers – as well as other incarnations. The company continued touring for 29 years until her passing in 1990. 

Her dancers also toured around the world, performing in Sweden in 1963 with the “King Coleman Show”, in Mexico in 1968 at a cultural festival before the 1968 Olympics 

The Parkettes attracted the attention of the British TV Company who produced “The Southbank Show” a UK television show on ITV. In 1981 they paid for one of Mama Lu’s events to be re-staged at Small’s Paradise Club on 7th Avenue in Harlem. 


The routine itself is fairly simple, with the hardest move being the ‘Squat Charleston’. But it makes for a fun solo dance that can be done FAST. If you’re interested in trying it out on your own, you can check out this video we made at the beginning of the pandemic that should get you through the basics of the routine. And I’m sure you’ll be using it in your warmups in no time.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_ByCXKEAAU[/embedyt]

Thomas Latter, Karen Tong, and Aurore Alauze

Find more examples of the Mama Stew routine on Youtube

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Charleston with Al Minns and Leon James

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Who are Al and Leon?

Al and Leon are famous Lindy Hop and Jazz dancers who grew to fame in the 1930s and 1940s. While there are lots of videos of them dancing together, they performed with others, including partner dancing in the performance troupe – Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUG5sRJsGC8[/embedyt]

In the video above you can see Al and Leon doing a short demo of the Charleston dance to the tune ‘Charleston’. It’s a great demo of some of the different styles of Jazz dancing from the 20s to 30s. And there is even a small amount of ‘partner dancing’ for good measure. If you ever get confused you can recognise Al Minns by his high-energy dancing and more athletic shapes. Leon James is a little more smooth and is known for his iconic hand gestures, often flashing his palms.

They would both keep dancing throughout their lives, acting as stewards of the dance form, keeping it alive throughout the years. They teamed up to help Jazz musicologist Marshall Stearns, who was writing a history of Jazz music in the 1960s. Stearns was instrumental in getting them multiple TV appearances as they went on tour together, allowing us to see so many clips of these phenomenal dancers in action! For that, we are forever indebted to Mr Stearns, for his allyship and his ability to open doors when they might have been closed to black dancers. In this clip from Playboy’s Penthouse -Hugh Hefner has his own TV show in the 60s, who knew!- you can see Stearns being interviewed by Hefner whilst Al and Leon dance.

In the early 1980s, Al Minns was instrumental in further spreading the dance around the world. Travelling to Sweden to teach a group of brand new dancers and helping out in New York with the renewed international interest in Swing Dancing.

Leon James passed in 1970 while Al Minns managed to see 1985 before also passing. Their life and contribution to Swing Dancing will forever be remembered.

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Mabel Lee

As part of our classes at Rhythm Studio we strive to be caretakers of this art form and to honour the legacy of those who came before us. Recently in her solo jazz classes one of our instructors Katie mentioned Mabel Lee as a point of inspiration. We wanted to take this moment to share a few clips and a little bit about this amazing dancer. Here is what Katie had to say about Ms Mable Lee.

Mabel Lee in 1946

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Mable Lee was dubbed “Queen of the Soundies” because she was featured in countless short films which were played on “Panorams”, think of them as juke boxes but for videos. She is a phenomenal tap dancer, I love her hip movements and styling. Beyond being a dancer she was an all round performer, singer and was bubbling with charisma. She was a a child prodigy who started dancing and singing by the age of 4. By 9 she was performing at local clubs with big bands! By 19 she has moved to New York and joined the chorus at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Performing at Tap City

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I went to a CVFC event with Mable Lee’s son and a few dancers who she trained. They said that, she would give you the coat off her back, she would have nothing but still give you everything.

Another delightful little tidbit I learned about her is that whenever she called you she would leave her full phone number, as if you didn’t already have it.

There are plenty more clips of her out there, feel free to have a look around but the above are two of my favourites!