In an exciting atmosphere, this documentary follows a look at the world of swing dance and the challenges that face the modern American society nowadays.
Glatzer captures the visceral charge of moving wildly in tandem with another person, often in improvised bouts that forge strong bonds between partners, if only for a few minutes.
The music, the interviews, the interleavening of stock footage, the way the various modern narratives and backgrounding histories are fitted together: All of this works toward a successful expression of what means a thing because it does have that swing
After the credits roll at the end and the lights come up, you will be overcome by the feverish need to head to the nearest dance floor with a kicking and swinging band.
Although it's been used repeatedly as a movie title, Alive and Kicking perfectly captures the joyous enthusiasm of Susan Glatzer's debut documentary, which presents swing dance as a vibrant, living art form.
Though its cinematography is nothing to write home about, the action Alive and Kicking captures is so transfixing, one marvels that dancers can keep it up for five years, much less five decades.
Though it adheres to documentary convention by picking out a few competitive swing dancers and following them throughout the film, "Alive and Kicking" keeps dancing off into other areas, and we just hold its hand and follow.
