Well-Zooted for the Task at Foot

A typical Monday night? Yeah, if you consider zoot suits and snoods the usual stuff to wear out on the town.

The fun is at Birraporetti’s, an Irish bar and Italian restaurant at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Once a week, the place is packed with swinging, jitterbugging, fox-trotting, Lindy-hopping hopefuls, waiting for their spin on the parquet dance floor.

As the 13-piece Don Miller Orchestra whips up the tempo, couples take turns showing off their spins, kicks and fancy footsteps.

Except for veteran Bill Millan, who dashes around in a suit that Jim Carrey could have worn in “The Mask,” the most enthusiastic dancers are in their 20s. They call themselves “swing kids” because they were inspired to check out the sounds of Harry James, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington after seeing the dance scenes in the 1993 movie “Swing Kids.”

Don’t let Peter Schumerth’s street garb throw you--the Costa Mesa resident can shake with the best of them, including partner Audrey Wilson of Irvine, whose clothes are true to the Big Band era, from her felt hat down to her two-tone saddle shoes.