ARTS & MORE: Jazzy musical swinging into Japan

Is there a type of music everyone loves? This question would likely prove too tough even for the most esteemed music critic because music today is so diverse.

Dancer Mark Stuart Eckstein, however, has an answer--big-band swing.

A lead dancer in the Broadway musical "Swing!" which is returning to Tokyo in August, Eckstein says swing jazz--and his musical--has "true universal appeal."

"There are kids who don't like classical music, adults who don't like rock or pop or hip hop, but there's no one that comes to see 'Swing!' and doesn't like it," he said in an interview during a recent promotional visit to Tokyo.

"It's infectious. You can't help moving your feet."

Created by director-choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett and production supervisor Jerry Zaks, "Swing!" opened on Broadway in 1999.

Employing top-class dancers, singers and musicians, the spectacular dance musical recreating the music of the 1930s and '40s was a huge hit. Helping it along was a swing revival centered in New York that took off in the 1990s.

The Tony Award-nominated dialogue-free, song-and-dance production premiered here in 2002. Its dazzling dance numbers, especially the acrobatic in-air moves called "air steps" and other dance lifts, captivated Japanese audiences.

Adealani Malia, a dancer and ex-gymnast, says more so than many other musicals "Swing!" is physically demanding. "It is almost like any physical sport."

Swing has become so much a part of the dancers, Eckstein says, that their bodies move almost involuntarily as soon as the music begins. "It's engrained in our muscle memory in a certain way."

The vocal performances are as much a highlight of the production as the dance numbers. It features about 40 arrangements of some of the best known swing numbers such as Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," Earle Hagen's "Harlem Nocturne" and Glenn Miller's "A String of Pearls."

Randie Shane started out as a dancer in the production. After taking on most of the female dance roles, she switched to singing. Shane says the messages in the songs are universal, but performing in a non-English speaking country is an added challenge.

"Because I can't just rely on lyrics," she says. "The audience would need more from me."

However, Eckstein is positive that the musical will be able to deliver its message to Japanese audiences. "There's something about jazz and swing music. Even if you close your eyes, you still know what's happening on the stage because the music is so expressive," he says.

The three performers agree that the highlight number is the finale, featuring the Benny Goodman staple "Sing, Sing, Sing."

"It comes at a time when we are so exhausted we don't even know how we are going to get through that number. But everyone is on stage at the same time. It's the only time that happens and everyone is going full-blast. You feel everyone else's energy," Eckstein says. "It's really one of the most incredible things that you can experience as a performer."

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Aug. 12-31 at Bunkamura Orchard Hall near JR Shibuya Station. 7,000 yen-12,000 yen. For times, visit < swing08.jp >. Call Ticket Space at 03-3234-9999 for tickets.

Also: Nagoya (Sept. 5-7), call Nagoya TV at 052-331-9966; Osaka (Sept. 11-15), call Kyodo Ticket Center at 06-7732- 8888.(IHT/Asahi: July 11,2008)