FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Northampton, MA

A VERY SPECIAL 16th ANNUAL CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATION EXHIBIT
December 3rd through January 30th

Opening Party December 3rd 6-8 PM:
FRANKIE MANNING “THE KING OF SWING” celebrates the publication of the new children’s book HAPPY FEET by Richard Michelson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis

In 1943, Life magazine proclaimed the Lindy Hop to be "America's national dance," and "this country's only native and original dance form." Emerging in Harlem in 1926, Frankie Manning, transformed it in 1935 and was its leading choreographer and exponent until he was drafted in1942. Since the mid-1980s he has been the central figure of the swing dance revival. Frankie is now 91 years old and still dancing.

HAPPY FEET: THE BOOK

On March 12, 1926, the doors of the Savoy Ballroom swung open in Harlem. It was a night to remember, when blacks and whites, rich and poor, all came together to dance! This inspiring story of the world-famous dancing palace and home of the Lindy Hoppers is told from a father to his son, Happy Feet. It's Happy Feet's favorite story--after all, he was born on the very night the Savoy opened. And he hopes that one day he'll make his own dancing debut at the legendary ballroom… because with a lot of hard work and a little Savoy magic, anything is possible.

HAPPY FEET: THE INSPRATION

FRANKIE MANNING was born in 1914. When he was 14, he started playing hooky from his Sunday afternoon church activities to go to the afternoon dances for teenagers where he first learned the Lindy Hop. In a dance competition at the world famous Savoy Ballroom, he premiered his invention, the "aerial," in which he and his partner locked arms back-to-back and he catapulted her in a somersault over him, she landing face-to-face in front of him. His innovations catapulted Frankie to fame. He and his group appeared with the leading swing bands of the time -- Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and others -- and in dance scenes of movies such as A Day at the Races, and the Marx Brothers' Hellzapoppin'. The cover photo of Life featured Frankie Manning doing the Congaroo, a combination of the conga and Lindy Hop. Over his career, he would appear with Bill Bojangles Robinson, Josephine Baker, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., and many other popular entertainers. He also consulted on and appeared in the movie Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee.
As the swing dance vogue faded, Manning took a job with the Postal Service, where he worked for 30 years, dancing only socially. His "rediscovery" in the mid-1980s thrust him to the forefront of the swing dance revival. Since then, he has steadily performed and taught both in the U.S. and abroad. He became the choreographer for the New York Swing Dance Society; choreographed shows in London, Sweden, and the U.S.; was profiled on the television program 20/20; and won a Tony Award for his choreography in the Broadway show Black and Blue.

HAPPY FEET: THE ARTIST

E.B. LEWIS is one of the most acclaimed book illustrators working today, having won both the Coretta Scott King Award (the premier award honoring African-American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults) and a Caldecott Honor (awarded annually by the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children). All the original paintings from “Happy Feet” will be on view, as well as a selection of other works by E.B. Lewis

HAPPY FEET: THE AUTHOR

RICHARD MICHELSON’s children’s books have won a Best Children’s Book Award from The New Yorker, a Children’s Book Committee Book of the Year, and a Jewish Book Council Book of the Month. Michelson’s reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review. He is the Curator of Exhibitions at The National Yiddish Book Center and the owner of R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts.

HAPPY FEET: THE PARTY
December 3rd 6-8 Meet Frankie Manning and E.B. Lewis

HAPPY FEET: THE GUESTS
There will be a Lindy Hop demonstration by some of Northampton’s finest …Showing off their dance steps as well as their newest book illustrations will be many of our country’s best loved illustrators including:

Barry Moser – Jane Dyer – Brooke Dyer – Tony DiTerlizzi – Mordicai Gerstein – Neil Waldman – Kathy Brown – Diane deGroat – Rebecca Guay – Dennis Nolan – Kathy Brown and other special guest writers and illustrators.

For more information or to schedule an interview please contact:
Richard Michelson
413.586.3964
RM@RMichelson.com