NORMA MILLER
THE SURVIVOR WHO WROTE THE BOOK

Norma Miller teaching with Chazz Young in the background

(This is an edited version of a talk given by Norma Miller at the 3rd American Swing Dance Championships in New York in April 1995, as part of the pre-publicity for the launching of her then forthcoming book SWINGIN' AT THE SAVOY. Many people had said they were going to write the story of the Savoy, but Norma was the first to get a substantial part of its history down in print. It remains an essential read as it gives unique insight into the spirit and character of the world of Lindy Hopping in the 1930's, let alone Norma's own fascinating story.)

Norma: You're in the Big Apple and it happened here. All of it happened here, the whole concept of the change of music, the change of style all happened here in New York City, and locally in my home town, Harlem. I was born here, I went to school here, we created the dance here. We created a dance that spread across the world like a forest blaze, like the words of the song TRUCKIN "...it became a craze thanks to Harlem". Sixty years ago we started it and you're still dancing it so we must have done something right! (laughs) We are fortunate enough to be old enough to appreciate what went on 40-50 years. I can relate to it because what you are doing we started and we did it out of sheer love.

Someone told me one day there was a dance contest, just at the time when every theatre was holding a Lindy Hop contest. Frankie and I were kids at the Renaissance Ballroom and we never thought about going in for a contest. I had a dancing partner called Sonny Ashby. He said "Why don't we go in for the dance contest at the Apollo Theatre". We knew we were good, so I said "Why not?" but we had no idea we were going to come up against the Savoy dancers. It was all set up four black teams from the Savoy and four white teams from Roseland were going to compete and the final winner would have a week on stage at the Apollo.

Sonny and I won because we were kids, and you know how kids dance the people just went wild. Not knowing the contest was set up for a certain portion of the dancers to win, we were like mavericks who came in and took away the top prize. There was a knock on my door the next day and there was a man who said his name was "Whitey". He said "I saw you dance last night and I'd like to see you come around to the Savoy, because I would rather have you dance with us than against us". And that's how I went to the Savoy when I was still so young. I was only allowed into the ballroom by special permission. I could only sit in the corner and dance along with other kids of the some age. In the meantime 'Whitey' was getting routines out of us, he'd say get up and dance and we danced and we never asked whether we were going to get paid.

Three things were happening in that ballroom. A great band was being created by Chick Webb, which was owned by the Gale Agency that booked bands into the Savoy Ballroom. Along with that band was a great singer who also won a contest at the Apollo Theatre. She was so good that by a series of recommendations the idea was brought to Chick Webb. Remember before then no major band had a girl singer, it was all men. So here was a girl 16 years old being recommended to Chick Webb. He said "You mean a girl singer in my band are you crazy? I'll never have a girl singer." Anyway the end result was he did and she was Ella Fitzgerald. Now there was Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald and the Lindy Hoppers as every show had to open with dancers. It was the biggest blast in the theatre. We were so good that only Ella could follow us. Out of that came Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. Someone was paying me to do what I like to do anyway. So dancing became a way of life.

The more we became professional the more was demanded of us. It was no longer a question of dancing when you felt like it; we had to dance when we didn't feel like it. And there were a whole lot of days when you didn't feel like dancing. We started dancing at 2 in the afternoon until 5pm when we went home for dinner - most of us lived at home - came back about 8 and danced for the rest of the night. We entertained the spectators and sightseers who came uptown on buses to the Savoy and sat in a corner and Whitey would say to us dance. We would put on practically a performance for the visitors and that's what kept the people coming and that's what developed us into a dance act. And that's how we began working out day in and day out - dancing socially is one thing, which is fine, but it cannot take you on stage.

Dancing professionally was a different kind of thing that allowed us to become personalities. Dancing is the hardest profession in the world. I have been a dancer all my life, it's the most backbreaking, heart-wrenching thing but you do it because you love it. Dancing has always been a part of my life even when I've branched off into different careers to survive. To dance for a living means a complete commitment, complete dedication and that's asking for a lot in today's world.

People say they dance for a hobby, that's fine too, but if you are thinking of going beyond that remember it is a job that has no peers, no rivals you sacrifice everything to be a dancer. Ask me because here I stand before you, a spinster (laughs loudly), you know I stopped performing in 1942 'cause I was looking for another way of life having returned from Rio and winding up after many years of dancing and working without a dime. So I said it was time to make a change, so I branched off into another form of entertainment and after years became a stand up comic and worked with Red Foxx for ten years.

After years of dancing, working in movies and being a comic all of sudden I came back to New York in 1982, you know how you come home every once in a while, and nobody looked on me as anything but dancer. And then I began walking around Harlem and saw nothing of what we had done there. Everything was gone. All the schools I went to were boarded up like everything in my life was boarded up in Harlem. I couldn't imagine what had happened on Lennox Avenue. I said, "We were here". It was as if we hadn't of existed. Our whole class was just wiped out.

We had two of the greatest exports in the world - swing dancing and fried chicken - well think about it you can find fried chicken all round the world today. I took fried chicken to Australia, they had never fried a chicken in Australia before I got there (laughter). So here were a people with the greatest exports and nobody knew we did it and who we were. So right then and there I said there has got to be a change I got to write and tell the story the way it was. That was the beginning of my book on the Savoy.

I went home busted as usual, and said mother "I'm gonna write a book". My mother looked at me as if I was crazy "You're gonna write a what! What you need is a job" (laughs) She said, "What you need is a husband". I said, "I agree but what do you suggest" (laughs) which goes into a comedy routine. Anytime me and my mother were round, however bad things were we would start laughing, to end up after all these years with aches and pains and not being able to pay the rent. I never had any other profession. I did try a day job but day jobs were never made for me. I got fired. When a person was stupid I told them "I think you're an idiot" which doesn't go down good with bosses. Nevertheless I started writing my book here in New York in 1982 and we did a show at the Village Gate on the Savoy in which we recreated the dancers of the era.

Norma Miller and Frankie Manning teaching the Jiving Lindy Hoppers

Now all of a sudden there was a burgeoning of swing around the world again. Many people came to me asking me to teach, but I don't teach only because I work at the professional level. It doesn't mean that other dancing is not good, but with me dancing is a living so when I have to have anything to do with dancers I have to have the best dancers that I can find in the world, because when dancers are out on stage we have to let them know we are out there, so that takes a real professional dancer. My friend Frankie Manning left the Lindy Hop about the same time that I did, but we have continued dancing together socially. I said, "Frankie they need you." Frankie had worked in the Post Office for 37 years and he came back to start teaching again. He's the best teacher in the world, I wish I had his patience; he could guide any person through a dance step. Men do it different from women; a man can take a girl and teach her how to dance. It's as hard as hell for women to teach a man how to dance. You can't throw no guys over your shoulder, guys can do that.

So that's how we got back into it, the dancing, he with the teaching and me with the talking. We've been friends for over 50 years and he was always my favourite dancer. He was my favourite dancer when we were kids coming up together, and I used to say if you want to see good dancing then watch Frank Manning. We had a lot of good dancers don't misunderstand me but Frankie had it all, even when 17, 18 or 19 years old.

You know it's a funny thing he never won the big one, the Harvest Moon Ball, and neither did I. We always came in 2nd and 3rd or something like that. But Leon James is the one, who would get up on stage and you couldn't see anybody else on stage but Leon James that's how he sparkled. We used to look at him and say "You jive dancer" but nobody looked at anybody else. That's when I realized that judges didn't know their hip from their elbow. They had the best dancer in the world and they picked the phony, but it isn't that he wasn't good don't misunderstand me, he had a personality that represented the Lindy. He had that look. When Leon danced that face would light up, the knees would light up and you couldn't see nobody else but meanwhile Frankie was swinging away.

I used to sit there and say "Damn, why didn't they see him". With me I was always the third partner and we always had the craziest style of dancing so when the big contests came down Tops and Wilda won the first prize in 1940 and Frank Manning came in second and I came in third. Ed Sullivan was so excited about the contest that year that he invited all three Lindy teams to play the Loews State Theatre.

The Harvest Moon Ball consisted of the 'All Around Championship' - the rumba, the tango, the fox-trot and the waltz, and then the Lindy. In the show, each champion would do their number and we would bring up the rear because we were 'Hotcha' you know 'Hot, Hot, Hot'. So now we opened with three teams, this was the first time the Loews show saw three top Champions. Originally I was the opening act, Frank was the second and Tops and Wilda was the champions and they closed the show down. On the second show of the opening day, Tops and Wilda opened, I was second and Frank Manning closed because no one could follow Frank Manning on stage.

You saw a combination that was the best of its kind; each team was better than the other. You can see that routine in Hellzappopin. Frank Manning takes this girl and snatches her and throws her and brings her back with such force and great unison that it is the best Lindy Hop sequence ever recorded. The proof of that is that you are still looking at that sequence recorded in 1941. Here he comes now. (Frank enters the hall to general applause). His personality is just like his dancing. We were a very strict group of people. We weren't allowed to do certain things; we never even questioned why we shouldn't do them. We didn't smoke, we didn't drink we just danced. All through the years Whitey relied on Frankie because he trained him for the job. I used to say "Get Out of Here" because he was so good at it. You know when you're young you're rebellious against anything, but he used to handle us so well. We were in Rio de Janeiro in wartime, we had no idea we were going to be involved in a war. Frankie was in charge of the company; he's got to handle six young people who are not very stable in the beginning. You know we're going to be stepping out like big stars in Rio, but he had a way of making us work and rehearse in the same quiet manner that Whitey had. And that's what shows today in his workshops because he makes you feel comfortable. He always had that quality of leadership in the dance. I'm sort of flighty; I get mad in a minute. If a person can't do a step I want to throw them out.

I worked with Frankie in MALCOLM X. He did the choreography and they called me in to dance with Frankie. I was a part of the Corps De Ballet but to dance with Frankie I would go anywhere. He put those series of steps together. I didn't like the way they did the movie, but this happens in a lot of professional engagements. I always have my concept of how I would have done it. Then Frankie and I worked together for the Alvin Ailey Ballet Company where we did Opus McShann. Alvin wanted to do a suite based on J. McShann's music and he wanted the jazz element so we worked with ballet dancers lindy hopping. That was the first time we really worked together and did a joint choreography job.

The second movie was the film STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY with Debbie Allen, which we did out in North Carolina, and we had the chance to work with a whole other group of dancers. The next time we do one we are going to be involved with the entire choreography and that way we will be able to reproduce what actually went on at the Savoy Ballroom.

It's taken me 10 years to finally finish the manuscript of my book on the Savoy and I am so proud.(applause) Temple University Press are going to publish it next year. We're gonna try and get a plaque put up to mark where the Savoy Ballroom and launch the book with a show at the Apollo. We're going to have a series of dance contests throughout the schools, and the best dancers will appear with us at the Apollo Theatre 'cause that's how I started. And we're going to show how the blending of the dance has come a long way. When I came along we had a lot of good white dancers, they were really together. The first contest I won was black dancers against white dancers. We've always been together in dancing. If the world did what we did we'd have world peace. (applause) We don't have no other reason for being together except the fact that we love to dance. Dancers are really the leaders of the world.

Frankie and I have always enjoyed dancing but never rehearse; we never know what the other is going to do. I just abandon myself when I dance with Frankie. Whatever he wants to do is all right with me. We came along in the Basie years, and he and I always had our favourite tune which you may notice that on his birthday everyone dances with him but me. (laughter) So you're on the tape, you didn't dance.....
Frankie: But you were the first one!
Norma: Yeh, but the camera was on you (laughter and applause)
Frankie: Norma, I just happen to be the prettiest.
Norma: You, son of a gun. Anyway Frankie and I are going to show you what happens ...
Frankie: Oh we are?
Norma: Yes we are, in the ballroom as this is where the guys met the girls. The girls sort of acted shy and all that, give me some Shiny Stockings ("Shiny Stockings" is played and Frank and Norma swing out.) Take it home - it beats an orgasm. (laughter)
Frankie: Norma Miller! (general applause as they finish dancing)
Norma: That ain't bad for someone who's 75 and someone who is 80
Someone from the audience: Which one is which?
Norma: Any time you hit 70 it doesn't matter. You know a lot of people think that as you get older you should stop participating. Never stop dancing it's the best thing in the world for you. If nothing else it beats osteoporosis. Keep the limbs moving, it makes you strong and enjoy life and it's cheap. (laughter).