Whether you've danced before, or think you have two left feet, you've come to the the right place. The Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Middletown is the premier dance studio of Central Connecticut.
When you sign up for dance lessons at Fred Astaire, you'll get to choose from multiple dance styles and approaches.
At the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Middletown, we are proud to offer the best of Ballroom & Latin Dance instruction. We offer Private Dance Lessons for one-on-one instruction, Group Dance Lessons to practice your moves, and social dance parties and events to put your new skills to use!
Got two left feet? Our instructors specialize in teaching brand new students, giving them confidence, a sense of rhythm and a LOVE for dance! Our Students call us the happiest, friendliest spot in town due to our welcoming atmosphere and our encouraging staff. We hope you find it to be so and invite you to come on out and meet us yourself.
Continuing in the tradition of the great Fred Astaire, our certified dance instructors will help you reach all of your dancing goals, whether you are aspiring to be a confident social dancer or a highly trained competitor. We offer all kinds of dance lessons – from Ballroom to Latin to Country-Western, even Zumba!
Our studio offers a full range of Ballroom and Latin dance lessons for all ages, at all ability levels, and with or without a partner. “Bringing dancing to people is what makes us happy. The joy and fun that can be had on the dance floor are life changing and we look forward to sharing this with the Middletown Community”
All lessons are taught by our Certified Dance Instructors who undergo rigorous and continuous dance training. No matter if you are looking for Private Dance Lessons, Group Dance Lessons, Wedding Dance Lessons or Competitive Dance Lessons, we are the Dance Studio for you!
First dance and father-daughter dance instruction Wedding Dance Lessons
Popular Social and Nightclub dance favorites such as Salsa, Merengue, Hustle, and Swing
Ballroom Dance Lessons such as the Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, and more!
Latin-American Dance Lessons like Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble, and Jive
Serving the towns of Middletown, Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Berlin, Meriden, Durham, Middlefield, Haddam, East Hampton, East Haddam and surrounding areas.
Great Beginnings
Our company began when Mr. Fred Astaire co-founded a chain of dance studios under his name, to make sure that his dance techniques could be preserved and passed onto the public… and on March 7th, 1947, the first Fred Astaire Dance Studio opened, at 487 Park Avenue in New York City. Since then, our network of worldwide dance studios has produced a wealth of amateur and professional dancers, who are the living embodiment of Fred Astaire’s style and grace. And since 1947, we have had the honor & privilege of improving the lives of our students, staff and everyone who is associated with our company, through the joy of lifelong dancing!
Ballroom Dance Lessons Should be FUN!
The teaching philosophy at every Fred Astaire Dance studio is simple and straightforward: learning how to ballroom dance is always fun! We work with students of all ages and abilities, and help them realize their ballroom dancing goals in a friendly and inspirational atmosphere. Whether you are interested in wedding dance instruction, are looking for a new hobby or way to connect with your partner, want to improve your social life, or are taking your dancing skills to the next level, Fred Astaire’s teaching method will result in faster learning rates and higher levels of achievement – regardless of your physical attributes or comprehension. And at Fred Astaire Dance Studios, you’ll always find a warm and welcoming community that will inspire you to reach new heights, feel and look confident, and have fun doing it!
Learn Faster, Achieve More
Our proven dance curriculum includes a tiered program of regularly-scheduled Private Lessons, plus Group Lessons and Practice Parties to ensure that you learn as much as possible, in the shortest amount of time, with the most retention, and the most FUN! Our dance instructors’ repertoire covers the full range of ballroom dances – American, Latin, International Style, Ballroom Style, even Exhibition and Theater Arts dances. Created for both social & competitive dancers, our proprietary dance instruction program ensures you’ll be on your way to confident dancing by the end of your very first lesson! Click here for more information and to find a Fred Astaire Dance Studio near you.
Track Your Progress
The Fred Astaire Trophy System is an easy way for you to track your progress & stay motivated, while you enjoy dancing. Our Beginner and Social Foundation Programs teach newer students the step patterns and techniques needed to move around the dance floor. Students then move on to Bronze, which will enable you to comfortably and confidently dance on any sized dance floor, to any music, with any partner. From there, you can hone your skills and talents within the Silver level, and then all the way to the Gold!
Our Talented Dance Instructors
Fred Astaire Dance Studio instructors are gifted dance educators who hail from all over the world. Many have Fine Arts degrees and are actively-competing, award-winning professional dancers. Our dance instructors complete the rigorous work required to become certified in the Fred Astaire Curriculum, a teaching method that not only teaches the mechanics of partner dancing, but also presents the building blocks of how people ABSORB and RETAIN information. This program ensures a consistent, high-level of dance instruction because it teaches in a way that people naturally learn! Our proprietary dance curriculum is also continuously reviewed by world-famous former dance champions and registered judges on the Fred Astaire National Dance Board, to ensure only the finest, most up-to-date programs for our students.
Exciting Events & Dance Competitions
Fred Astaire Dance Studios offer a variety of fun local events to make your dance experience exciting and rewarding! Guest Parties, Showcases, Spotlights, Community Outreach Events, special Coaching Sessions and off-site Group Outings encourage social interaction and help you apply what you’re learning. And our branded Regional, National and International Pro-Am and Professional Dance Competitions give you inspiring opportunities to compete, travel and hone your dancing skills in supportive and exciting environments.
Fred Astaire Dance Store
Each Fred Astaire Franchised Dance Studio features an in-studio and online Dance Store, where you can purchase branded products (such as dance shoes, practice wear and more) to keep you looking and feeling your best, on and off the dance floor.
Get Started Today, with a Fred Astaire Dance Studio Intro Offer!
Take advantage of the special introductory offer at your local Fred Astaire Dance Studio, and take the first step towards realizing your ballroom dance goals! Click here to find a location near you – and we’ll look forward to seeing you on the dance floor.
Fred Astaire Dance Studio Middletown
19 Tuttle Place,
Middletown, CT 06457, USA
860-788-7150
HOURS Monday – Friday: 1:00pm to 9:30pm.
Today, one almost can’t turn on the TV or radio, or open a newspaper, magazine, or web page without hearing a mention of Mr. Fred Astaire in reference to dancing. He has left a lasting impact on the world and when people think of a dancing legend, Fred Astaire is the first to come to mind. We are proud of our great dance heritage which began in 1947 when the Master of dance himself, Mr. Fred Astaire, co-founded our company.
Mr. Fred Astaire, considered to be the greatest multitalented dancer of all time, wanted to establish a chain of studios under his name to make sure that his techniques would be preserved and passed onto the public. Mr. Astaire was instrumental in the choice of dance curriculum and instructional techniques. With the opening of the first Fred Astaire Studio on Park Avenue in New York City, Fred Astaire brought his immense talent out of the glamour of Hollywood and onto the dance floors of America and the world.
“Some people seem to think that good dancers are born.” Astaire once observed. “All the good dancers I’ve known have been taught or trained. To me, dancing has always been fun. I enjoy every minute of it. I am glad that I can now put my knowledge to use in bringing personal confidence and a feeling of achievement to so many people.”
Today, numerous Fred Astaire Franchised Dance Studios located in cities throughout North America and internationally, are required to maintain the highest standards of excellence through our National Dance Board and Fred Astaire Franchised Dance Studios curriculum certification. Although Mr. Astaire is no longer with us in person, our studios have produced a wealth of amateur and professional dancers who are the living embodiment of his style and grace.
by BERKELEY WELLNESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2017
With shows like Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance in full swing, dancing is becoming one of America’s favorite pastimes. There is even National Dance Day, which was started in 2010 to “encourage Americans to embrace dance as a fun and positive way to maintain health and fight obesity.”
Dancing provides physical, psychological, and social benefits galore, so put on your dancing shoes and follow along.
Quickstep for balance, tango for the blues? Many studies have found that dancing can improve balance, even in frail elderly people. Some have shown improvements in gait, walking speed, and reaction time, as well as cognitive and fine motor performance. Dance studies have included jazz, ballroom, tango, folk, and a series of slow, low-impact dance movements—though any kind of dancing would likely be beneficial.
Interestingly, according to a review in theEuropean Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in 2009, dancing may help people with Parkinson’s disease, which is characterized by rigid muscles, slowed movement, and impaired balance. Dancing may also be good for your mood. It has been shown to reduce depression, anxiety, and stress and boost self-esteem, body image, coping ability, and overall sense of well-being, with the benefits lasting over time. In one study, it even helped control “emotional eating” in obese women who eat as a response to stress.
The authors of a meta-analysis of 27 studies on the effectiveness of dance movement therapy, published in Arts in Psychotherapy this year, concluded that dancing should be encouraged as part of treatment for people with depression and anxiety. Though other forms of exercise can have many of the same benefits, dancing is more appealing to some people, so they are more likely to stick with it. For example, at the end of a study that compared tango dancing to mindfulness meditation, 97 percent of participants chose to receive a voucher for a tango class rather than one for mindfulness meditation. (By the way, the study found that both activities reduced depression, but only dancing reduced stress levels.) In another study, attendance was higher with waltzing than conventional exercise, possibly because “dance is a form of exercise in which movement, social interaction, and fun are mixed together,” the researchers said.
Boost Heart Health & Burn Calories
If dancing gets your heart rate up, it can be a good form of aerobic exercise, which is good for your heart in general. One study even found that in people with stable chronic heart failure, slow-fast (interval) waltzing improved heart and blood vessel function and overall quality of life as much as a moderate aerobic exercise program did. On average, a 150-pound person burns about 240 calories per hour when dancing. But the numbers vary a lot, from less than 200 calories per hour for slow dances like tango to about 350 calories for faster dancing like swing—and more than 500 calories for step aerobics dancing. Of course, for the more active dances you probably won’t dance a full hour.
Put on Your Dancing Shoes
Because there are so many different types of dance, you should be able to find a style that suits you in terms of intensity (high-or low-impact, fast or slow), difficulty level, type of music you like, and whether you prefer to dance with or without a partner. If you want an upbeat, calorie-burning style, you can try tap or swing, for example. If you want something more reserved, there is tango. Foxtrot is a good choice for beginners; quickstep for more advanced dancers. If you like your dancing more spicy, why not try salsa or mambo? Want to dance with passion? Flamenco may be your calling. If group dancing appeals to you, there is line and folk dancing.
In addition to dance studios that give individual and group lessons, many gyms have dance-fitness classes like Zumba that combine dance and aerobics; some incorporate styles like hip hop, Bollywood, and ballet along with Pilates or other core exercises. You can also search online for a variety of dance events in your area, sponsored by different dance groups or dance schools. In many cities, for example, you can find nightly salsa social dances, tango “milongas,” and swing “meetups.”
If you prefer to dance at home, there are videos and Wii Fit dance games (such as Golds Gym Workout and Just Dance)—or you can just crank up your own music and do your own thing.
A Dance App to Prevent Falls
Dance! Don’t Fall is a dancing-balance app for Android phones developed by Portuguese researchers to help older people improve their balance through an easy dance exercise. Many hospitals, rehab facilities, and community centers offer dance therapy, such as Healthy-Steps (gohealthysteps.com), which incorporates the Lebed Method, a movement program originally developed for cancer patients. Another program, Dance for PD (danceforparkinsons.org), offers classes for people with Parkinson’s disease that integrate movements from traditional and modern dance; they are taught by trained dancers and accompanied by live music.
Bottom line: There’s no downside to incorporating dance into your regular physical activity routine, and it could help motivate you to get moving if you find other types of workouts, like treadmill walking or cycling, a little boring. People with medical conditions such as heart disease, Parkinson’s, arthritis, and vision impairment may benefit—after they get their doctor’s okay in some cases.
Don’t overlook the social benefits: Dancing is a great way to spend quality time with a partner or meet new people if you don’t have a partner.
Fred Astaire, born in 1899, began show business at the age of 5, performing on Broadway and in vaudeville with his sister, Adele. Then he headed to Hollywood where he began a successful partnership with Ginger Rogers for nine movies. He appeared in films with esteemed co-stars such as Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds and Cyd Charisse. He also co-starred with the biggest actors of that time, including Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, and Gene Kelly.
Fred Astaire was not only a great dancer – changing the face of the American movie musical with his style and grace – but he was also an actor in many different dramatic and comedic roles in both movies and TV specials. He won multiple Emmys for his work in television. The Towering Inferno (1974) earned him an Oscar nomination. He received an honorary Academy Award in 1950 for his “unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures.”
Fred Astaire died in 1987 from pneumonia. With his passing, we lost a true dancing legend. His effortless lightness and grace may never be seen again. As Mikhail Baryshnikov observed at the time of his death, “No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business.”
Although famous for his magical partnership with Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire also danced with the leading ladies of his time, including Cyd Charisse, Lucille Bremer, Joan Leslie, Leslie Caron, Vera Ellen, Barrie Chase, Judy Garland, Eleanor Powell and Rita Hayworth.
“For ballroom dancing, remember that your partners have their own distinctive styles also. Cultivate flexibility. Be able to adapt your style to that of your partner. In doing so, you are not surrendering your individuality, but blending it with that of your partner.”
– Fred Astaire from The Fred Astaire Top Hat Dance Album, 1936
Fred Astaire starred in 31 musical films. He was famous for his collaboration with Ginger Rogers in the following films:
Fred Astaire introduced many classic songs by famous American composers, including:
