We at the Heartland Swing Festival believe in promoting and supporting our region. That includes our talented musicans and dancers. We are committed to highlighting our region's best perormancers and will continue to do so year after year. And when our bands can't blow anymore our DJs will keep the tunes rolling.

The Hot Swing Combo! "The Hot Swing Combo was created for the sole purpose of providing dancers the opportunity to be as expressive, creative and innovative as possible while dancing to a group of less than 8 musicians. A quintet will perform at the Heartland Swing Festival in 2011.

Big Bands with their excellent arrangements and strength in numbers were/are an obvious choice for dancers. But what if a smaller swing combo, able to incorporate multiple genres could offer the dancers varying tempos, inspiring solos, an endless supply of energy combined with some non-jazz material that shouldn't work?

The Hot Swing Combo brings performance experience including Midwest Lindyfest '05-'08, Ultimate Lindyhop Showdown '04-'08, Washington D.C. Lindy Exchange '07, Twin Cities Lindy Exchange '05, Cowtown Jamborama '07 Octoplexy '08 Hawkeye Swing Festival '08-10 and more.

The musicians in the combo are the real deal. The combination of musicians with their shared respect for tradition and need for innovation will help make the 2011 Heartland Swing Festival spectacular. "
Check out their website for more!

4th Street Swing is a band based in Des Moines, Iowa, created for dancers. Their play list reflects their style and desire to provide music for those who love to swing.

Featured DJs!

Oscar Hampton (Kansas City)
Oscar is very happy to be playing music at Heartland Swing Festival. Oscar has been dancing, competing, and playing music for many years now and has played at many different lindy hop and west coast swing events including Midwest Lindyfest 2008, The Rhythm is Jumpin’ 2010, Grand Prix of Swing, Montreal West Coast Swing Fest and more. Oscar enjoys a wide range of music from Slim and Slam to Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye to John Legend, Count Basie to Fats Waller.

Serge Berg (Twin Cities)
From his first foray into the world of blues dancing, Serge quickly fell in love with both the dance and the music that inspires it. Believing that the chance to express a particular theme, instrument, or melody of a song through dancing to be one of the true delights of this dance, Serge continues to expand his musical repertoire. His sets can range from classics such as Nina Simone, Bill Withers, and Eva Cassidy to the more recent tunes of Fruteland Jackson, Al Green, and the Asylum Street Spankers. After DJing at dozens of house parties and dances, Serge began spinning at bigger events such as the March 2008 Blues Revival, St. Olaf Lindy Fest, G Swing 2010, and the Minnesota College Solidarity Weekend. Having attended and thoroughly enjoyed both the music and atmosphere at HSF for the last 5 years, Serge is thrilled to be able to put a little bit of his own enthusiasm and love for blues music into making this another amazing event for all dancers to enjoy.

Kelley Sparks
"Kelley is thrilled to return to Heartland to showcase her soulful musical stylings. With Otis Redding, Gladys Knight, Lou Rawls, King Floyd and the mighty Earth, Wind & Fire, she will certainly have you groovin' all night long. You've probably heard her spinnin' tunes at national events such as HSF in 2010 as well as Midwest Lindy Fest and local dance venues in the Minneapolis/St. Paul scene. When she's not playing sweet soul jams, you can find her cooking a tasty meal in the kitchen or cuddling with her fluffy cat, Jasper."

Master of Ceremonies

Evan Borst
Evan has been dancing since 2001 and loves it now more than ever. Dedicated to growing the dance scene in his home town of Wichita, he has organized events, taught class, founded dance teams, broke a sweat, drank profusely, and cracked bad jokes. As your Master of Ceremonies he'll draw on a few of those experiences, but no one can be completely sure of which ones. Always excited to see great dancing in the Midwest, Evan is excited to be a part of this year's Heartland Swing Festival!

Michael Brafford
Michael began his lindy hop journey in 1998 at the University of Iowa. His passion grew for the dance as he traversed the nation in search of the best swing dance scenes. Inspired by the national events, he decided to bring that excitement back to Iowa where he organized the ABSwing Challenge in 2004 and later founded the Hawkeye Swing Festival in 2006 with good friend, Matthew Fuld. After graduating, he moved to Saint Paul but was convinced that Des Moines could be a memorable destination for Lindy Hoppers and amateur competitors.  In 2010, the Heartland Swing Festival was born and the Collegiate Jitterbug Championships offered the largest all-amateur field of competitors in the region.  As a professional actor and director, Michael loves the stage and is excited to MC at his favorite event, The Heartland Swing Festival!