Aaron and Kathy both began their dance careers at Purdue University, being involved in Collegiate Ballroom Dance Competitions. While dancing in Chicago in 1998, Aaron took note of swing dancing and fell in love (with the dancing!), and they haven’t been back to ballroom since. Both Aaron and Kathy have had instruction from some of the best, having attended week-long camps at Beantown, Lindy U, Swing Out New Hampshire, and numerous other weekend workshops and private lessons. They founded Naptown Stomp in 2001. They also developed, choreographed, and danced with the Diga Doos Performance Troupe in Indianapolis, and performed with Big City Swing in Chicago. Aaron and Kathy love swing dance and it shows in their teaching.

Chris began taking lessons at Naptown Stomp in the fall of 2015. Having never taken a dance lesson or ever been involved in anything dance related, taking that first step to attend lessons was one of apprehension. But the people of Naptown Stomp made the process of learning Lindy Hop an extremely joyful and easy process. Chris has been overwhelmed by the positivity and excitement that the swing dance community has to offer. Chris hopes to help Naptown Stomp grow as an organization and is excited to continue his journey of learning swing dancing.

Yara is a local gal born and raised on the west side of Indianapolis. She is a local social studies teacher and also spends time working at Conner Prairie, an interactive history museum. She enjoys dancing and has a background in theater and performance. Yara is super excited to be part of Naptown Stomp and to further educate people on the fun that is dance.

Danny started dancing at a ballroom studio in 2007 and left on a mission to pursue lindy hop after watching his first old timey dance clip. He has since performed, competed, and taught at many events around the country. Danny’s passion in the dance is striving for freedom of movement in cooperation with the improvisational art form that is jazz. In class, he likes to emphasize personal body movement, musicality, partner connection, and fun.

Kelly Beyrer fell in love with Lindy hop while living and studying abroad in Beijing, China, and she attended her first lessons and dance events in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Seoul, South Korea. Since returning to Indianapolis in 2015, Kelly’s love of dance has continued to deepen and grow through teaching, traveling, and performing. She loves sharing her joy of swing dance, particularly with beginner dancers. You can find her on the dance floor both as a lead and a follow– so whichever role you prefer, ask her to dance!

Sean has been dancing since 2014. He started his dancing in Wichita, Kansas and quickly fell in love with the dance. While in Wichita he started to become more active in the scene by taking on volunteer shifts for the weekly dances. In the summer of 2016 Sean would move into Indianapolis and eagerly join Naptown Stomp’s ranks. Now after being within Naptown’s scene for nearly 2 years Sean is eager to give back to the dance scene he has come to care for.

A lover of music, Amanda finds dancing to be the most effective way to express what she hears. With swing dancing in particular, she began at Purdue University in 2008. Now based in Indianapolis, she continues to dance and teach, hoping to inspire new dancers. Whether it’s a wedding couple or a 100+ people, she loves to share with anyone who wants to learn. Never be afraid to ask her to dance, she believes there is something to be appreciated about every dancer new to professional. Ready to learn some solo jazz or cool partner tricks? So is she…but she’ll gladly share with you what you she already knows.

Joe took his first swing dance lesson in Madison, WI in 2008 and the music and people kept him coming back since. He started teaching at the University of Iowa in 2013 before moving to Indianapolis in 2016. He also developed a recent passion for dancing Balboa after discovering it during his time in Iowa. Overall, his favorite part about swing dancing is that exhilaration that comes with sharing movement and ideas to a song that just really makes you want to dance!

Mandy Hogan started learning East Coast swing from Anderson University’s swing club in 2007. A year later, she discovered the swing-out and has been a lindy hopping addict ever since! Along her dancing journey she has traveled all over the Midwest social dancing, performing, competing and teaching. Mandy loves sharing the joy she finds in swing dancing and is super excited to be an active instructor for Naptown Stomp.

Rachel fell in love with swing dancing at her very first lesson in college in 2012. Spending a gap year in St. Louis taught her about St. Louis Shag before moving to Indianapolis to work on her Masters in Human Biology. She has spent incalculable weekends traveling to learn, compete, and meet new friends from all over the country. She is ALWAYS excited to use all the experience and knowledge she’s gathered to teach in Indianapolis and the surrounding college scenes. Best described as an exuberant, mildly-awkward teacher, Rachel loves to share her passion for dance with anyone willing to learn. Excited to teach Lindy Hop, Charleston, St. Louis Shag, Balboa (and more!), Rachel specializes in technique, musicality, and developing a deeper understanding and love of the art of dancing. As a DJ, she loves to showcase the wide range of swing era music, from the epitome of early Count Basie swing to the boogie baseline of jump blues, and the slow, “gushy” flow of drag blues.

Tony began swing dancing in a small town in Montana in 2014. Because the dance scene was so small, he got to work very closely with a group of dedicated dancers that helped him dive head first into the deep end of swing. He hadn’t done anything like it before and quickly fell in love with it. Swing has been a consistently important part of his life since then.

Tony has now lived and taught in Montana, Texas, New York, Colorado and Indiana. Each scene has been fun and unique and has given him a different perspective on dance. Everytime he moves he takes with him the ideas and values of everywhere he’s been.

In dance, connection and clarity are his bread and butter. Tony enjoys the musicality, footwork and complicated moves of swing, but he likes nothing more than having a comfortable dance. 

Sarah began dancing in 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio, and has been teaching since 2012. She travels for dance as frequently as possible, and has danced in cities around the US, New Zealand, and Europe. Because of her love of teaching, Sarah has taken several teacher training workshops with international instructors to be able to give the best classes possible to her students. She plans and teaches progressive lessons, specialty workshops, party classes (weddings, events, etc.), and private lessons.

Sarah is most passionate about the joyful nature of lindy hop, and encourages her students to be playful and exploratory in their dancing using ideas from the music and the roots of the dance (she loves lindy hop history!). With her interest in fitness and strength training, she also enjoys talking about quality body movement.

Around Indianapolis, Sarah has taught swing dance (lindy hop, balboa, Charleston, shag, and solo jazz) at Purdue University, Indiana University, and Naptown Stomp. 

Circa 2015 at Purdue, Jacob was restless sitting in classes all day. To break up the day and having never stepped foot on a dance floor, Jacob stumbled into a class named simply “Dance 101”. Quickly thereafter, things snowballed into a cycle of meeting people, being invited to things, meeting more people, and going to more things. One of these things was Purdue Night Train. Because of the fun atmosphere, Jacob spent a little too much time doing activities ranging from taking classes, traveling, and eventually to teaching classes. After graduation, Jacob spent some time in Northwest Indiana and danced semi-regularly around Chicago. Jacob moved to Indy in fall of 2018 where he has been dancing regularly since. Jacob feels that dancing is most fun when he is well connected with the music and his partner.