Heartland SwingOut! Instructors

Nicole began her dance journey in fall 2013 at Iowa State University (ISU) with their ballroom dance club, adding swing dance in spring 2014. She quickly progressed to teaching both ballroom and swing classes after her first year at ISU, and later competed and performed with the ballroom club’s adult group. Post-college, she continued teaching ballroom and joined Des Moines Ballroom’s performance team, later contributing to Step Into Swing’s swing dance performances. Following Step Into Swing’s closure in 2022, Nicole co-founded Heartland Swing and now serves as its President and head instructor, dedicated to expanding lessons and establishing a performance group as the organization grows.

Cara Held began swing dancing in Des Moines. She continued to learn and grow as a dancer in Iowa City, IA with the University of Iowa swing dance club, and eventually began teaching lessons in lindy hop. Cara self-identifies as a lindy hopper, although she has experience with other dances under the swing umbrella and has also explored other social dance styles over the years. In 2014, Cara moved to Denver, CO where she continued to social dance and joined the performance team with Swingin' Denver, allowing her to further develop her dance technique, pedagogy, and knowledge around vernacular jazz dancing, music, and history. Social dancing has always presented an open door into new communities throughout her travels and she has had the privilege of connecting with people on the dance floor.

Matt Tough first learned to dance in middle school through his physical education courses. He didn’t dance through high school, but he got involved in swing dancing at Iowa State University (ISU). He became more serious in his dancing as the continued his education at Grandview University. After college, he continued swing dancing with Step into Swing in Des Moines, IA and Rhythm in Swing in Minneapolis, MN. After a few years in these scenes, he moved to Colorado where he further refined his swing dance skills. Moving back to Des Moines, IA in 2019, he re-joined the Step into Swing group. After the Step into Swing closure, he helped create Heartland Swing as a social member and head instructor.

Raven Wells was introduced to Lindy Hop in 2013 and instantly fell in love. She loves all things Lindy, Solo Jazz, Blues and various other styles of dance. Her goal is to always bring passion, creativity and musicality to her dancing and wants to encourage all dancers to do the same! She’s a follow and an aspiring lead so ask her to dance!