In response to one of the videos I prepared about the history of Swing, some guy sent me an e-mail with a link to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myJj0mNNe1Y

With the following comment:

"Check out the attached video to see real swing dancing."

Here is my response:

lindyhop411,

Call me old fashioned, but to me, real swing dancing is what you see on the dance floors of clubs, dances and parties around the world. West Coast, East Coast, Lindy, Hand Dance, and yes, even Steppin (never thought I'd be defending that dance). The dancers in your video are great dancers, no doubt, but I am hardly impressed by young kids executing choreography that is designed to imitate what they think they saw in "Hellzapoppin", "A Day at the Races", etc...

I am amazed by how many of these young, fast, energetic and talented dancers are simply unable to follow "real" swing lead by "real" swing dancers.

It's a free world, and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. That's certainly swing dancing, and those are certainly swing dancers, but I would hardly call what they are doing "real swing".