Outside Perspective: Documentary on Swing and Jitterbug

My friend Morgan Day, posted on yehoodi awhile back a link to a documentary by David Wittkower on Swing and Jitterbug which was filmed during Camp Hollywood 2006.

What is interesting though, is David Wittkower when deciding to make this documentary was someone who was from outside of the swing dance community.

When I asked his permission on youtube to use his video for my blog post he gave me the response,

“The back ground was this. I was youtube surfing and came across this clip which I really loved watching:

because I love the music and the dancing. Not really a dancer myself, I used to Cajun dance many years ago and I grew up listening to the big bands because my parents were in WW2.
After watching this video (above) I thought it would be great to make a short film about swing dancing. It hasn’t been in any festivals, I made it a few years ago and now decided to put it up on Youtube, along with some of my other films.

I’ve been making films for over 30 years, mostly documentaries, and constantly looking for projects that I either get hired to make or I make them because the subject interests me.”

What I liked about this documentary is it allowed me to get a great quality view of 23 Skidoo!’s team performance that year, allowed for some interesting perspective from Hilary Alexander the event director, interesting interviews with Jack Carey and international dancers from Italy and Sweden, and last but not least Jean Veloz and Ray Hirsch dancing at the very end.

If you have a spare moment I would recommend checking out this documentary besides some great footage of Camp Hollywood, it also offers some insightful messages as well.