Guadalajara, Mexico, Jun 12 (EFE).- Mexican teenagers have sparked controversy with a video showing them flaunting Nazi symbols during a dance contest in this western metropolis.

The three-minute clip was shot by a dance enthusiast during the Cheerdance ACMX competition held May 31 in Guadalajara, but was only posted this week on the multimedia platform Liveleak.

In the choreography, young men and women appear wearing military uniforms and waving red flags. The dance simulates a battle that peaks with the unfurling of a red-and-black swastika flag carried by two youths giving a Nazi salute.

Both Liveleak and local media Web sites have screened the event, while viewers have posted comments for and against.

“I feel bad that the kids have been carried away by all this. They’ll soon start being indoctrinated in a different belief system,” a teenager said.

Another said “it’s incredible that the directors of the association are so tremendously stupid,” while a viewer justified the act by saying “hey, it’s just a dance.”

As for Enrique Casas, director general of Cheerdance ACMX and organizer of the contest that attracted 192 dance groups, he defended the teens, saying they were only acting out a theatrical story by means of the dance.

He said the choreography was not meant to offend, but that any art form “can cause a certain discomfort.”

“Art in any form can be surprising,” Casas said, adding that he will seek to protect the identity of the young people involved because the whole issue “is being demonized.” EFE