FESTIVALS AND EVENTS : Dance Champions Swing Through Ballroom Again

A grand ballroom, a giant crystal chandelier, satin and sequins, man and woman swirling arm in arm. The golden days of dance? Nope, this weekend’s big swing contest.

West Coast. Shag. Lindy. From Friday through Sunday, about 300 hopefuls will do it all for the 11th annual U.S. Open National Swing Dance Championships at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

As usual, the popular event is already sold out. Roughly 1,400 spectators are expected. Still left, however, are standing-room-only tickets, which entitle holders to 19 hours of non-competitive, just-for-fun swing dancing to recorded music and a chance to watch top dancers vie for $28,000 in prizes. Twelve 90-minute workshops (beginning to advanced swing, plus Latin and hustle dances) are each $15, or less if several are purchased.

Jack Bridges, the event’s executive director and a recreational swing dancer, has staged every competition here since falling in love with the Disneyland Hotel’s ballroom in 1982.

“These competitors are the best dancers in the country,” the former Orange County resident said in a recent phone interview from his Las Vegas home. “We’ll have one couple from Germany and one from Sweden, too.”

The championships are divided into seven divisions, from Young American, for youths, to Showcase, full of over-the-head lifts and heart-stopping drops.

Roughly 40 dancers from Orange County are expected to try for prizes, 10 of whom make up Bandstand Boogie, a team based at Lynn Vogen Studios, a dance academy in Huntington Beach. Lance Shermoen of Valencia, who won first place in last year’s Showcase Division with partner Michele French, will accompany nine girls for their high-energy, three-minute routine.

All those attending the championship are encouraged to bring one can (or more) of food to be donated to the Food Distribution Center in Orange.