REVIEW: Swing documentary is ‘Alive and Kicking’
Susan Glatzer’s valentine to swing dancing, Alive and Kicking, is a thoughtful, energetic and passionate look at the history and current-day influence of the art form. Profiling a few dancers over the course of the documentary’s 90 minutes, the director is able to discover what makes so many people adopt and adapt the swing-ified moves of yesteryear.
Alive and Kicking is at its best when the dancers are dancing, and dance they do. Glatzer, using a combination of captured visuals and archival film, sets the art form in a beautiful lens, showcasing the daring theatrics of the flying arms and legs. The dancers pound the floor, flip over shoulders and emit smiles as wide as can be, and they truly display talent and verve.
Glatzer also delves into the history of the dance, charting its early days among the African-American community in Harlem, New York, and its waning influence in the post-war years. She looks at the 1990s revival thanks to Gap commercials and movies like Swingers. Today, that influence continues with international competitions and dance classes, which keep the professional dancers busy and happy, although not always gainfully employed.
In the film, the term “swing” is used, but the original term “lindy hop” is preferred. Several important settings emerge as focal points, including the grand ballroom on Catalina Island, California, and the annual dance camp known as Camp Hollywood. The players in these venues are dedicated and driven, and often paired together for a career. Two Swedish sisters compete on the world stage, and a dancing couple from Los Angeles make the rounds.
While the relative newcomers take home the awards and try to earn a living, the early legends of the lindy hop loom prominently. They are celebrated at these competitions and dance camps, and most of them still enjoy swinging their hips to the infectious beats.
The narrative is loose, with no real beginning or end. Glatzer simply follows the pairs, seeing how they progress, how they overcome obstacles, asking them what dance means to them. There’s a lot of passion on display, but, for the most part, the drama is mostly absent. Those on the screen will say that negativity is largely missing from the art form, and the tenants of the lindy hop are built on collaboration, spontaneity and trust. Still, there were a few times I wondered whether some inevitable in-fighting occurs, like if a dance partner decides to leave another partner in the hopes of greater success.
More than anything, Alive and Kicking will put a smile on the audience’s face, much like swing dancing puts a smile on the faces of these exquisitely talented dancers.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Alive and Kicking (2016), directed by Susan Glatzer, is now available on DVD from Magnolia Pictures. Click here for more information. Rating: 
