Frankie Manning: Inventor of Lindy Hop honoured by Google Doodle

The dancer and choreographer died in 2009, aged 94

If you've been admiring the moves of that dancing couple in today's Google Doodle, then you've been admiring the legacy of Frankie Manning, the choreographer credited with popularising Lindy Hop, who would have been 102 today.

Born in Florida but brought up in Harlem, New York, during the 1930s Manning became a familiar face at the city's Savoy Ballroom, the only integrated dance hall in the Big Apple.

The Savoy was where another dancer, George "Shorty" Snowden, had coined the term "Lindy Hop" for a fusion of tap, jazz, breakaway and Charleston, all popular dance styles of the 1920s and 30s. The name is thought to be a reference to Charles Lindbergh's first transatlantic flight, or "Lindy's hop" across the Atlantic in 1927.

The wild, energetic style reached its zenith with the touring troupe of dancers that Manning led, Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. Manning, who died in 2009 aged 94, was considered the greatest Lindy Hopper of them all. After Lindy Hop made a comeback in the 1980s, Manning won a Tony award for his choreography in the Broadway musical Black and Blue.