{"id":6168,"date":"2019-05-27T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T10:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/?p=6168"},"modified":"2025-04-21T12:04:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T16:04:27","slug":"audrey-faust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/blog\/dance-competitions\/audrey-faust\/","title":{"rendered":"A Student\u2019s Story: Meet Audrey Faust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Before her children\u2019s school, St. Regis, partnered with Fred Astaire Dance Studio for a Dancing with the Stars style fundraiser (Dancing with the St. Regis All Stars), Audrey Faust had never danced.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Never thought of it, even. She was too busy as a Bloomfield Hills realtor and mom of four sons to take on a time-consuming, physically challenging hobby like ballroom dance.<\/p>\n

But dance she did at the St. Regis event, and she loved it. Living a 15-minute drive from our Bloomfield Hills studio, it was all the more enticing to consider signing up for weekly classes.<\/p>\n

Seven parents took lessons and prepared to perform with our dance instructors as their partners, and it turned out to be one of the most successful fundraisers for the school ever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Falling in Love with Dance<\/h2>\n

Many of the parent dancers fell in love with ballroom dance.<\/p>\n

Audrey had never danced prior to the St. Regis event, except for an occasional night out with friends or at a special event. \u201cDancing was out of my wheelhouse,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The week leading up to the fundraiser, Audrey was petrified to get up in front of the crowd. But she kept practicing with her partner, Donald Westphal. In the end, Audrey loved dancing. \u201cIt made me happy every time I walked into practice,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Now, she takes weekly Thursday lessons with Donald. If he has an opening in his schedule, she jumps at another opportunity to dance.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I\u2019m with Donald, I laugh. I want to be best friends with him,\u201d Audrey jokes.<\/p>\n

This year, Donald convinced Audrey to compete in the Michigan Dance Challenge with him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>She didn\u2019t know what to expect. \u201cThere were so many dancers, beautiful dresses, I felt like I didn\u2019t fit in at first,\u201d she recalls. \u201cBut I did great for never competing before. Watching the professionals the last night overtook me. I felt excited and happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m at the studio and see other students practicing, or at the MDC with all the other dancers, it pushes me,\u201d she adds. \u201cI just want to get better and at the same time, it\u2019s a ton of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Donald and Audrey danced swing<\/a>, cha cha<\/a>, and rumba<\/a>. The Michigan Dance Challenge<\/a> took place at The Henry in Dearborn. It is the largest dance competition in Michigan, and we won Top Studio in the state this year and the last two years.<\/p>\n

Once a Dancer, Always a Dancer<\/h2>\n

Now that Audrey\u2019s been bitten by the competition bug, she has competitions lined up on her calendar. She\u2019s competing in June with Donald as her partner and at a showcase in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cDancing at Fred Astaire Dance Studio changed a lot of things for the better,\u201d she says. Before she discovered dance, Audrey didn\u2019t really enjoy working out and would go on walks for exercise.<\/p>\n

The energy she feels when dancing energizes her. \u201cI\u2019m currently learning tango, which has become one of my favorites,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s my time for myself,\u201d she says, something busy, devoted moms rarely have. \u201cIf someone asked me what my favorite hobbies were before dancing, I wouldn\u2019t have had an answer. Now I can say dance. \u201c<\/p>\n

Today, two of Audrey\u2019s sons are in college and two are still at home. \u201cThey can see the difference dance has had on me,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m dancing at home all the time. My friends are proud of me, as are my boys. It feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another benefit of dancing is the friends she\u2019s made at our studio. Now, she says there are 15 people she\u2019s connected with on Facebook and her sense of community among dancers is growing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Evan coming up to me after the St. Regis event and saying, you\u2019re going to do competitions, I can tell,\u201d she says. She didn\u2019t think she would continue dancing, but every Thursday at 12:45, she\u2019s in the studio, eagerly putting on her dance shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would go every day if I could,\u201d she exclaims.<\/p>\n

\u201cDance opens your eyes,\u201d Audrey says.<\/p>\n

When asked what she would say to someone who has never danced before, Audrey responded, \u201cCome on, do it. You won\u2019t regret it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

New to dance? Want to try? Check out our new student introductory special.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before her children\u2019s school, St. Regis, partnered with Fred Astaire Dance Studio for a Dancing with the Stars style fundraiser (Dancing with the St. Regis All Stars), Audrey Faust had never danced. Never thought of it, even. She was too busy as a Bloomfield Hills realtor and mom of four sons to take on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[54,43,55,56,57,58,59,60,49,61,62],"class_list":["post-6168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance-competitions","tag-audrey-faust","tag-ballroom-dance","tag-benefit-of-dance","tag-competitive-dance","tag-dance-lessons","tag-donald-westphal","tag-evan-mountain","tag-fundraiser","tag-michigan-dance-challenge","tag-st-regis-parents","tag-st-regis-school"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}