The Big Apple

By request,below are my notes describing the moves in Frankie Manning's Big Apple choreography. There are many good YouTube videos that break this choreography down too:

• Patrick & Natasha demonstrate the whole routine
• Joe Demers breaks it down nice and slow
• The Harlem Hot-Shots perform the spit out of it

And here are two film clips of Whitey's Lindyhopper's dancing it:

• Keep Punchin'
• Spirit Moves

One final note, there are several songs that are commonly used for this choreography. It used to be that everyone danced it whenever Lionel Hampton's Flying Home came on. Lately, everyone seems to be using Solomon Douglas's re-creation of the music to The Big Apple Contest from Keep Punchin'. And with some slight modifications, it also fits well to Count Basie's Jumpin' At The Woodside. (These notes fit with Flying Home, which has an extra eight-count between phrases 12 and 13. If you dance it to Keep Punchin', you end up doing the skates at the top of phrase 13, and everything after that gets shifted slightly.)

Phrase 1
* jump around (3 eight-counts)
* half-break, cross, & turn

Phrase 2
* pulls
* spank & fall back
* rocks
* drunken sailor

Phrase 3
* boogie backs
* apple jacks
* apple jacks (facing out from circle)
* gaze afar

Phrase 4
* suzie-q
* suzie-q (tap 7, fall 8)
* fall-off-the-log to rusty-dusty (towards the middle, then back out)
* rusty-dusty (to your partner, then back out, triple-step on 7&8)

Phrase 5
* spank the baby (counter-clockwise around the circle, 3 eight-counts)
* spank the baby (kick-step on 7-8, turn in to face the center of the circle)

Phrase 6
* jump charleston
* jump charleston
* jump charleston (double-pump on 5, 7, step 8)
* rock-step, kick-step, fishtail, fishtail

Phrase 7
* fishtail, fishtail, boogie back, boogie back
* boogie forward, boogie forward, breeze in the knees
* fishtail, boogie back (away), boogie back (to your "fake partner"), boogie back (away)
* ride the pony (with your "real partner")

Phrase 8
* step 1, step-slap 3 4, step-slap 5 6, step-fall 7 8
* fall off the log to lock arms with your partner
* truck clockwise
* turn and truck counter-clockwise

Phrases 9 & 10
London Bridge: truck under london bridge; once you're under, add to the bridge; use running-in-place footwork

Phrase 11
* Claps & finger-wag
* Claps & finger-wag
* Claps & finger-wag
* Leads: step-scoot left 1 2, step-scoot right 3 4, cross left behind right on 5, unwind (counterclockwise) on 7
Follows: step-scoot left 1 2, step-scoot right 3 4, cross 5, uncross 7

Phrase 12
* Siska-boom-ba, siska-boom-ba
* Rock step (right-left) 1 2, cross right over left 3, unwind (counterclockwise) on 5, scoot back 7, step 8
* Kick-step 1 2, banana-peel kicks 3 4 5 6, cross right over left 7, scoot back 8
* Step 1, kick 2, rock-step (left-right) 3 4, cross left over right 5, turn (clockwise) 7

Extra 8-count
* Skates left 1 2 3 4, sailor right 5 6 7, stomp-off 8

Phrase 13
* Step backwards right left right 1 2 3, fall-off-the 4 5 6 (turning clockwise), stomp-off &7
* Fall-off-the-log 8 1 2 3, rock back 5, rock forward 7
* Rocks
* Boogie backs with rotation

Phrase 14
* Shortie George 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
* Shortie George 1 3 5 6 7
* Shortie George 1 3 5 6, kick-step (left) 7 8
* Charleston (starting with kick forward on right)

Phrase 15
* Around-the-world charleston
* rock-step (left-right) 1 2, step 3, slap 4, triple-step slap on & 6 7 8,
* triple-step slap & 2 3 4, triple-step slap & 6 7 8
* Cross left over right (bending down low) 1, uncross right 3, spring up 4

Phrase 16
* suzie-q's to the left
* modified jump charleston - leads travel right, pass behind follows
* suzie-q's to the left
* modified jump charleston - follows travel right, pass behind leads

Phrase 17
* Peck
* Jump around
* Jump around
* half-break, cross, & turn

Phrase 18
Break-a-leg and exit