Cal Pozo's Swing!; Swing Dancing with Teresa Mason; Swing is King

The most shocking image at last year's MTV Awards was not, in my opinion, the much ballyhooed entrance of indie film queen Rose McGowan (wearing, essentially, a long piece of string) on the arm of goth androgynous rocker Marilyn Manson. Nope, it was the end of the show, which featured the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Orchestra !?! On MTV ?!? Well, of course. Fashion, music, even art are constantly recycled and remade anew, and the current dance flavor of the month is "swing."I'm glad the instruction in Cal Pozo's Swing is solid, because everything else about the program is fabricated. First off, the video is called Swing Medley on the actual tape (which opens with a long commercial). Despite the box claim, this is a "1996" not a "1998" program. The running time is 71 minutes, not 50 (as printed on the box), and--most egregious of the errors--the program does not, as advertised, teach the "jitterbug" or the "jump-jive." Still, for what it does do, Cal Pozo's Swing does well, as Pozo and his partner take viewers through the basic steps of swing (triple step, rock step, turns and flourishes) facing the audience, with their backs to the audience and using a clever animated footstep feature. Viewers will learn the lindy hop, the country western swing and the difference between the east and west coast styles of swing. Recommended, despite the cataloger's headache. Aud: H, P.Swing Dancing with Teresa Mason, on the other hand, is exactly what is says it is, and offers solid instruction to boot. Mason and partner Lance Estridge, along with a pair of helpers, take viewers step by step through both the west and east coast swings, the lindy, the jitterbug and jive swing, providing both front views and back views (of the man's part) and "styling tips." I presume that Mason shows only the man's part from behind because women are naturally rhythmic and graceful while men are naturally rhythmless and graceless. Anyway, this is a good introduction to swing dancing, which is sure to be popular. Aud: H, P.Finally, Swing is King, taught by Hollywood choreographer Nick Felix (who worked with Robert Duval on Tender Mercies, among other projects) is the least focused and scripted of the bunch. Felix and his wife demonstrate all of the major steps to the swing, as well as a few nice flourishes (such as the "Egg Beater"), with segment breaks featuring dance students cutting the rug. Felix's off-the-cuff delivery gives a spontaneous feeling to the script (sometimes good, sometimes not so good). People hoping to learn the "jitterbug", "jive", etc. will be disappointed (though, in fairness, these are all variations--mostly timing--on the basic swing steps), and the production values are occasionally substandard (in close dancing, Felix's wife covers his microphone several times). In addition, the demonstrators never turn their backs to present the steps--a feature the other two programs wisely include. Optional. Aud: H, P. (R. Pitman)