How good are your dance skills? Whatever the answer, after seeing this documentary you might start to doubt them. This documentary is about the world of swing dancing. A way of dancing that is extremely energetic, fun to watch and sometimes acrobatic. A dance that seemed to have died a silent death and wasn’t performed for many decades, but which suddenly became enormously popular again in the late 80s and early 90s. The reason? The fact that a large film studio decided to release old films with the dance on video. People who saw the Lindy Hop being performed in old films wanted to know more about it and the popular dancers of that time were suddenly asked to teach again, even though they were already elderly. Swing dancing made a huge comeback and never disappeared. Alive and Kicking tries to make it clear why.
It soon becomes clear what an energy and positivity exists in this subculture. Swing dancing is a pleasure to watch and through a number of interviews it becomes clear what happens to the people who do it. A former soldier who didn’t feel he had a connection with the world when he returned from the Middle East, found goals to live for. Two sisters ( who adopted each other) dance together so they stand out within the circuit and other dancers dream of becoming known so that they are able to teach regularly. But the history is also discussed, the type of people that do it and of course a lot of footage of people who dance and have fun. A documentary that gives you a wonderful feeling and might even be able to convince you to take a look at a dance course.
