Featuring UA alum, Broadway's "Swing!" brings its national tour to Tucson

Photo courtesy of UA Presents

Dancers Timothy Bish (left) and Courtney Combs, a UA alumna, are part of the national tour of "Swing!," coming to Centennial Hall this week. The Broadway show was nominated for six Tony Awards and opens tonight

The skinny is, some blip hepcats are going to don their glad rags tonight and cut up the rug for some jumpin' jives at Centennial Hall.

It's been a few years since a few Gap commercials featuring some 20-something dancers and "Matrix"-esque special effects helped to revitalize swing dancing, but never let it be said that the dance genre is not still alive and kicking, so to speak. The record sales of the Brian Setzer Orchestra may be waning, but swing, a dance style predating World War II, has proved to have a shelf life that extends beyond its late-'90s cultural hipness.

Opening tonight at Centennial Hall, the Broadway show "Swing!," nominated for six Tony awards including Best Musical, carries on this dance tradition for all the jitterbugs (fans of swing) at the University of Arizona.

The show, whose national tour began this September, features 30 dance numbers, including some vocal performances as well as a live neo-swing band. Some numbers are original, but the show also features such classics as "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Sing Sing Sing!" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got that Swing)."

"What I usually tell people about the show is that it is more a celebration about the music and the era (during World War II, when swing reached its peak)," said Courtney Combs, one of the dancers and a UA alumna. "As far as musical theater and Broadway shows, this one is almost completely dancing, and it's real dancing."

Combs added that the infectiousness and energy of swing dancing often affects each performance's audience.

"We've had some people that are actually up dancing when we take our final bows. It's that kind of music where you can't not tap your foot," she said.

Combs, who graduated in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in dance, said that learning swing was a difficult process because the style differs so much from her classical background. The performers underwent an intensive two-week rehearsal period with professional swing dancers so they could learn the basics.

"(Swing is) much lower to the ground than what I'm used to doing, than say classical ballet," Combs said. "It's not so much about pointing your feet or lines - it's about the movement itself. What was really hard for me was the partnership situation. In modern (dance), it is more equal; with this, you follow the guy."

Combs attributes her ability to adapt to new dance styles as a product of her education at the UA dance department.

"I cannot say enough about the dance department. It's known across the country, across the world," she said. "I'm so excited to come back."

Dance department head Jory Hancock echoed her sentiments.

"By (Combs') senior year, she was really one of the most versatile dancers we've ever had, in terms of being equally powerful in all three styles (ballet, modern and jazz)," said Hancock, whom Combs called immediately after she was offered the role. "A strong ballet foundation gives you the ability to go lots of different directions in the dance world. It's important that she had that."

Learning swing, with its aerial and gymnastic elements, proved to be somewhat dangerous, Combs said.

"I broke my hand the third week of rehearsals," she said. "It was one of those weird lindy, aerial back-flip things. My hand just got caught."

Combs added that another dancer broke her wrist and a lindy-hop girl tore her anterior cruciate ligament.

"(Swing is) definitely hard on the body," she said.

Combs said because the show harkens back to an era during WWII, it has relevance to the troubled times of today, and she feels she is serving an important purpose in providing audiences with a fun escape.

"This is going to sound super cheesy, and I can't believe I'm saying it, but it's the truth. We were supposed to open on Sept. 11 in Charlotte (N.C.)," she said. "When we go to these cities, we've had completely packed houses and standing ovations every night, and I feel that I'm serving a purpose.

"You don't have to think a lot (during the show). You can just sit back and enjoy.

"When we take our final bow, I really feel like I served a purpose, that I have been able to bring some happiness to some people," Combs said.

"Swing!" runs through Sunday at Centennial Hall. Ticket prices vary. For show times and ticket sales, call Centennial's box office at 621-3341.