Modern swing dance encompasses a number of styles of footwork and dress and it’s one of the rare athletic endeavors where people of all sizes and shapes are welcomed and – with enough talent – can excel.

Swing dance is largely based on the famous Lindy Hop, popular in jazz clubs from the late 1920s through the 1940s. And while it originated in the U.S., the style has become popular around the world.

Enter Bianca Locatelli (a native Italian who moved to Sweden in her teens) and Nils Andrén (a native Swede) who now dance on Sweden’s national team in “Boogie Woogie” and “Lindy Hop” competitions, specifically.

Both are trained in multiple styles of dance – ballet, jazz, Latin, ballroom, etc. – and have been performing swing together since they met at the age of 16.

They now travel globally for showcases, competitions, and workshops and are known for their “vintage” flair.

And it’s easy to see why other dancers can learn a lot from them. In fact, a video of their performance at the Rock That Swing Festival at the Deutsches Theater in Munich, Germany on February 11, 2018 now has over 13 million views on YouTube!

In it, the former Swedish national champions tear up the floor with a routine danced to Bruce Channel’s 1961 hit “Hey Baby!” (which you might more easily recognize from the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing – or, now, from sports arenas, since everyone knows the words to the lighthearted song).

The performance itself is really something special, not just because of the technical proficiency of the dancers but because of how much fun they seem to be having. And commenters agreed:

“They have so much fun I can’t take my eyes off them! Great!!!”

The pair appear to be keeping some of the Boogie Woogie-style footwork but also melding it with the swing outs that make the Lindy Hop so iconic.

And then there’s the pure theater they bring to the fun-to-watch performance.

All eyes seem to be on Nils for this particular dance – and it’s fair because he’s totally feeling it!

“I love this! That guy can really dance! That guy’s dancing is pure art. He was meant to do that. He told the whole song with his dance I must have watched this 10 times already. I can’t stop watching this guy dance. His partner is perfect also. But he’s a real actor to this song,” a commenter gushed.

Well, now we know how it got up to 13 million views! In fact, many commenters said they watched it multiple times in a row.

We can’t blame them with moves like this:

While there are no elaborate, flashy lifts or gymnastic maneuvers, the two move and flow so well together that an amateur could never hope to replicate their charisma.

But part of the beauty of swing is that the basic steps themselves are accessible to just about everyone.

Bianca and Nils show what years of practice can do when you add artistry and creativity to that foundation.

And while the two are most certainly artists, they also love the formal aspects of dance. According to their Facebook bio:

“They love swing dancing because it brings people together and spreads joy between them, but also because it has a technical and ‘nerdy’ side. The dance challenges them in keeping practicing, creating and expressing.”

Be sure to scroll down below to catch their wildly entertaining performance!

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Source: Nils and Bianca via Facebook, RockThatSwing via YouTube