SPRING SWING.

Byline: Fred Crafts The Register-Guard

Talk about a swinging affair: the Eugene Ballet Company dancing to the big band sounds of OFAM's Emerald City Jazz Kings. That'll get some feet moving.

On the card are numbers associated with the likes of Les Brown, Bobby Sherwood, Glen Gray, Count Basie and Benny Goodman - tunes such as "Leap Frog," "The Elks' Parade," "My Funny Valentine," "No Name Jive," "Swingin' the Blues," "Sophisticated Swing," "Floatin','' "Bizet Has His Day" and the swing era anthem "Sing, Sing, Sing."

A lineup like that is bound to blow somebody's (bobby) sox off - most likely those of the ballet dancers.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," says choreographer Toni Pimble about Eugene Ballet's upcoming "Jitterbug, Jive & Jazz" concert this coming weekend at the Hult Center.

It's also going to move the collaborators into new territory.

Says Pimble about her dancers, "None of us had done any swing before, so we had to get instructions and had to learn swing dancing and shag and jitterbug. I had dancers working in the studios during `Cinderella' (in January) learning the swing vocabulary before we could get into these rehearsals."

But, once they got it down, they had, she says, "a lot of fun."

Emerald City Jazz Kings' leader Steve Stone feels the same way.

"This is a new experience for me," he explains. "The demands of performing for a dance company are many. The tempos have to be correct, within very little variance, and the tunes have to be the right length, so you can't say, `Joe, take another chorus' or anything like that. Stuff like that is making it a real challenge, but I'm really looking forward to it."

The plan is to place the 15-piece retro jazz band on risers at the rear of the stage, with the dancers dancing in front of them, close to the audience. The way Pimble has done it, ``Leap Frog'' will be a swing number for the entire company, ``The Elks' Parade'' a military piece for the men, ``My Funny Valentine'' a ballroom duet for Hyuk-ku Kwon and Jennifer Martin, ``No Name Jive'' a shag set in a dance hall, ``Floatin' '' a parody of roller skating carhops, ``Sophisticated Swing'' a sendup of fashion models, and so on.

The merriment will occur in the program's third section. Other works on the program:

Concerto for Seven Dancers. Choreographed by Pimble to J.S. Bach's Concerto for Three Violins, this had its premiere last July 9 at the Oregon Bach Festival.

"Don Quixote" pas de deux. Principal dancers Martin and Kwon will perform this famous staple of classic ballet.

"Circle, Line, Square." A three-movement work choreographed by Robert Battle of Battleworks Dance Company, this includes "Shake" by Testuro Naito, ``S.O.S. (Summer of Sav)'' by Young Bird and the Boyz and ``Thank God I'm a Country Boy'' by John Denver.

"Romeo and Juliet" pas de deux. Eugene Ballet favorite Brett Mills will give her final performance with the company before retiring.

Her partner will be principal dancer Hyoung-Il Joung.

Mills, 35, has danced with the Eugene Ballet Company for 11 years, in principal roles such as Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Beauty in "Beauty & The Beast," Odette in "Swan Lake," Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in "The Nutcracker," Constance in "The Three Musketeers," Aurora in "The Sleeping Beauty" and the title roles in "The Firebird," "Cinderella" and "Alice in Wonderland."

Says Pimble, "She's a beautiful artist. So humble. She's never stopped working hard in the studio. Always striving to improve.

``She is an artist, not just a dancer. She's musical and is a beautiful actress.

"She's just been an absolute joy to work with these past 11 years. An absolute joy. She will be greatly missed."

DANCE PREVIEW

Jitterbug, Jive and Jazz

What: Swing dancing caps a varied program by the Eugene Ballet Company, choreographed by Toni Pimble

When: 8 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. April 18

Where: The Hult Center, Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street

How much: $16-$42, through the Hult Center box office (682-5000)

Fred Crafts can be reached at 338-2575 or [e-mail].