It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing.

Swing dancing is a global activity, and you might surprisingly find a local community of swing when visiting a new city. Every dace move is improvised, and you will never know what happen next. Its improvisational nature is similar to mind mapping, you will never know what next cool move you are going to create, and the next great idea occurs in your mind.

We talked with a swing teacher and dancer to find out how they use XMind to promote, teach, and dance better.

“Swing” as it relates to dancing is that it is an umbrella term that refers to many of the dances done to jazz music during the swing era of our musical history in America. Let’s have a quick look at the history of jazz music and swing dancing.

According to Michael & Evita: Jazz reached its height in popularity between the 1920s and 1950s, and swing music refers to a type of Jazz music. During that period, dance styles and fads evolved to match the music, including, but not limited to: Charleston (both solo and partnered), Lindy Hop, Balboa, West Coast Swing, Collegiate Shag and Peabody. “Swing dancing” is essentially an umbrella term that refers to many of the dances being done to swing music. A similar example would be “Latin dance,” which refers to dances like Cha Cha, Bachata, Samba, Merengue and Salsa.

Our first guest also shares her insights of swing dance too.

Suzy — Founder and Director of Apple Jack Studio

Suzy became a professional dancer in 2015, and she claimed herself "a traditional dancer" who adheres to the roots of swing dance culture, and at the same time a "reformed dancer" who has been committed to promoting the renewal of domestic swing dance teaching concepts. Her research and experience has endowed her with profound comprehension of swing dance and outstanding choreography, improvisation and performance. Today, She continued promoting and teaching swing dance in China.

Besides teaching, she also shared her research with swing lovers in the workshop. She participated a workshop and shared dancers with swing history, and self-improvement advice with mind mapping.

“PPT/Keynote is time-consuming and rigid, or perhaps I haven’t got the right way to master it,” said Suzy. Mind mapping helps her to jot down ideas quickly, and organize the topics freely with iPad. She can rehearse the presentation and continue to edit or build mind maps easily.

Suzy said: "In this mind map, swing dance is divided into Lindy Hop and Solo Routines according to modern swing dance, however, we didn’t think it should be divided in this way, that’s why we go further in the branches so that the audience get to know better behind these names."

Mind mapping helps the audience to catch on easily, while Suzy can use body language to express a bit more. “Most of the audience enjoy the mind mapping presentation, and I think I am the promoter for XMind,” said Suzy.

Anne — Swing Dancer

Anne started dancing swing since 2017, and she participated workshops and camp after finishing Lindy Hop Level 1. Dancing not only brought her joy, but also friendship and connections within the community. She started delivering trial classes to the newcomers of the community.

“I started mind mapping since the first swing workshop because it’s useful to have a quick recap. Read the keywords, and check the video recap helps me practice after the class,” said Anne. She also do mind mapping on the phone after the class and then keep editing them on desktop.

Anne’s favorite feature in XMind is insert Local File/Folder and weblink because she can build her Swing video library easily. “I can always find how I start, and what’s my next step. Revisit the workshop and camp helps me to learn these additional materials from a new perspective,” said Anne.

Staying organized is the key to productivity, but also it shortens the road to the goal. We are honored to witness a little progress each day, and believe the big result is just around the corner. Feel free to share us your stories with XMind, and let’s make it happen together.

References:
https://michaelandevita.com/swing-dancing-vs-lindy-hop-whats-difference/