The beautiful city of Umeå once again invites you to U May Swing the 31 of May2th of June, a weekend packed with dance classes, fantastic music, unique personal meetings, and competitions and shows! U May Swing 2024 will host Lindy hop classes and open level tasters with international and local instructors at convenient walking distance within central Umeå. The weekend will kick off on Friday night with a taster class followed by a welcome party with DJ-music. Saturday night you can dance to the amazing swing band Mildred & the Hot Nuts live at Umeå Folkets Hus. A cozy tea dance on Sunday afternoon will wrap up the intense weekend at Ordenshuset with fika, a small flea market clothing shop and more great music!

The weekend welcomes everybody and this year’s edition will offer four levels. You cannot register for the top level, but an audition (held by the external instructors) will split the highest group (Blue/Red) into two.

Pricing

Weekend Package – Ordinary Bird: 1700 SEK, Late Bird (May): 1800 SEK

  • 6 hours of Lindy Hop, 1 hour of solo jazz for each track (Green, Yellow, Blue or Red)
  • Tasters
  • All parties/social dances. (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
  • Register here

Party Pass: 500 SEK

  • All parties/social dances. (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
  • Register here

Party Entrance Fees

  • Friday: Folkets Hus social dance – 100 SEK
  • Saturday: Folkets Hus Mildred & the Hot Nuts 350 SEK
  • Sunday: Ordenshuset tea dance – 150 SEK

Tracks

Photo: Mikael Stiernstedt
mikael.st@gmail.com

Green/Grön

You are rather new to the dance. You have participated at least one lindy hop basic course, but perhaps not social danced much yet. Or – it was a long time ago you danced and want to start over again. On this level we continue to practice and refine the fundamental figures, and explore new steps and techniques. You have probably danced regularly less than a year and also tested to dance socially a few times.

Register here/Registrera dig här

Yellow/Gul

You feel rather confident in your dance and have probably danced regularly, both in courses and socially, during 1-2 years. You can easily mix different types of figures and footwork, started to get used to higher tempos and are not afraid of challenges with new figures, techniques and musicality. On this level you like to experiment and improvise and you have started to adapt your dance to the music.

Register here/Registrera dig här

Blue/Blå

At this point you have danced regularly for several years and dance like a fish in the water. You listen to the music, can vary your footwork, dance at higher tempos and add styling and variations to your dance. You have probably participated in all the courses at your local scene, been to workshops in other places and want more. At this level basic figures, such as swing-outs, feel effortless even at higher tempos. This is a level that you can stick around on for a while.

Register here/Registrera dig här

RED/Röd

This is the top level where you ticked off all the other level descriptions. The classes will get back to
basics and you are ready to work on your own touch to your dancing, being creative with your
partner and music, and playing with rhythms, variations and concepts of material you are probably
already familiar with. If you hesitate, you are probably better off registering to a lower level.

Register here/Registrera dig här
(Note that you register for the Blue/Red level and it requires an audition at the start of the event to enter the Red level.
/ Observera att du registrerar dig för den blå/röda nivån och att det krävs en audition i början av evenemanget för att komma in på den röda nivån.)

Competitions

60 SECONDS CHALLENGE!

MIX & MATCH!

Amateur dance competition where everybody can join. In the qualifications, everybody dance at the same time. In the finals, one couple at a time will be spotlighted!

Instructors

Nils & Bianca

Nils and Bianca are full time swing dance teachers, performers and choreographers, who both got stuck in swing dancing and its music, their biggest passion, at a very young age. Their paths crossed when Bianca moved to Sweden at the age of sixteen and that’s when they started performing and competing together.

Nowadays they travel all over the world for teaching, performing and competing. They love to teach what they believe in, it gives them inspiration, happiness and satisfaction. Bianca and Nils like to bring their love for the dance through energy and enthusiasm on stage and they like to make all their students feel comfortable in expressing themselves through their dancing.

Mattias & Hanna

Mattias and Hanna are highly appreciated for their fast, energetic Lindy Hop and explosive acrobatics, but also for their fun and warm personalities. They have their own unique dance style that consists of a solid foundation of original dance roots mixed with modern influences. They are the driving forces behind the dance collective Kalabalindy, which spreads Lindy Hop to children and young people.

They were members of The Rhythm Hot Shots, which later became Harlem Hot Shots, until 2007. With Mattias and Hanna, you will be challenged and inspired, and every part of the dance lesson is filled with their guiding principles: joy, freedom, and community.

Viktor & Wilma

The Edlund siblings started to dance bugg at age seven(Viktor) and six(Wilma). At a smaller dance camp in Luleå they witnessed Lindy hop and Boogie Woogie and fell in love with it instantly. They are largely self-taught and are today part of the national teams for both Boogie Woogie and Lindy Hop, with impressive merits. The recently won the world championship in Boogie Woogie (2023).

Today they travel around the world and dance together, one of their favorite places being Herräng. They love to teach, social dance, perform and compete. They think the social scene is as important as the competitive scene and that both are useful to become an all round good Swing dancer. They say that dancing is an unofficial peace movement that unites and creates joy as nothing else does!

Band

Mildred & the Hot Nuts

Mildred & the Hot Nuts play dance music from the Roaring Twenties, featuring hits by Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith, King Oliver, and Kid Ory. Mildred & the Hot Nuts offer a joyful and inclusive concert, spiced up with tap dancing, sing-alongs, and a parade! We have extensive experience playing for dancers and vary tempos to suit Lindy Hop, Balboa, Blues, and Charleston.

Tasters

To be announced!

Clothing Flea Market

There will be a flea market for clothes at the Saturday Folkets Hus social dance and the Ordenshuset Tea dance on Sunday were participants go if they wish sell some garments and/or buy new ones!

If you wish to bring clothing to sell, please mark them with your payment/contact details. (For example, phone number for SWISH).

Contact info@swingum.se if you have further questions.

SCHEDULE

To be announced!