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The Benefits of Unleashing Your Competitive Side
We love many things about dance. The beauty. The elegance. The teamwork with a trusted partner. The competition. Wait. What? Yes, the competition. As our dancers progress through the Fred Astaire Trophy System, they often wish to test their skills and dedication against others. Whether it’s a studio Mini-Match or a regional event or the...
The Dancer’s Journal: Demystifying the Language of Dance Competitions
by Katyusha Schaffer Author, FADS Student Extraordinaire, and Amateur Competitor You’ve told your Fred Astaire Dance Studio Instructor that you feel ready to do your first competition – CONGRATULATIONS!! You have a great conversation with him/her and come up with a plan to dance several heats in your current division, participate in championships and scholarships...
Helpful Tips to Achieve Perfect Ballroom Competition Hair!
There are three key components that make up a dance competition; the dancing, the audience, and the dancers themselves. Can you guess what the first thing is that the audience notices? That’s right, the dancer’s appearance – their costume, hair, and makeup to be specific. A dancers outfit, hair, and makeup play a big part...
An In-Depth Guide: Preparing Your Body For a Dance Competition
Fred Astaire Dance Studios across the globe host many regional and national competitions throughout the year. In order to feel fully prepared for a FADS dance competition, you want to make sure you are treating your body right for the few weeks leading up to the competition so you are able to handle the demands...
Dance: Something This Mother and Daughter Have in Common
Sari Gold and her daughter Emily walked into the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Manhasset, NY at different times, and for different reasons. But there’s one aspect of dance they agree on – that it’s enhancing their relationship, by giving them something to share, together. At Bellagio Las Vegas during FAWC 2017, Sari and Emily Gold, joined...
The Dancer’s Journal: That Old Feeling
by Katyusha Schaffer Author, FADS Student Extraordinaire, and Amateur Competitor Racing heartbeat, trembling knees, sweaty palms… you’re not in love, but about to step out onto the competition dance floor! These 10 tips will help you push through your dance competition nerves and help you enjoy the journey. There’s that feeling again. It starts as soon as you...
First, She Said YES To the Dress…
When her husband, Mike, began getting serious about his dance lessons, Joan Treacy didn’t quite follow suit… until a ballroom dress, and the FADS Coral Gables FL family, changed her mind! Mike Treacy started ballroom dance lessons at a competing dance studio when he & his wife, Joan, moved to Miami ten years ago. Says...
Four Essential Things, to Be a Great Ballroom Dance Competitor
by Stephen Knight, FADS National Dance Director As I think ahead to our Cross Country Dance Championships (CCDC) in Houston next month (Fred Astaire Dance Studios’ first national dance competition of 2018), I am reminded of last fall’s National Dance Championships (NDC), in Orlando. One of the thoughts I had over & over during that...
Doctor’s Orders: On Dance, Competing and Empathy
In addition to enriching her own life, dancing has helped Dr. Leslie Barnes Remski, Orthopedic Surgeon and FADS Pensacola, FL Student, to better empathize with her patients who have sustained injuries. Dr. Leslie Barnes Remski had always been interested in dance, but never had the chance to train. When she moved to Pensacola, FL she...
One Student, Two Competitions – Two VERY Different Wins In a Single Year!
To celebrate our 70th anniversary in 2017, Fred Astaire Dance Studios sponsored a Facebook contest, with a Grand Prize of a trip for two to our 2017 National Dance Championships in Orlando FL. Meet the Grand Prize winner: Edward A. Ennett, Student at Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Youngstown OH! Ed started dancing at FADS...
A Tiny, and Talented Competitive Ballroom Dancer!
Sasha, a student at Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Miami Beach, sat down with her parents and inSTEP at the 2017 Fred Astaire World Championships in Las Vegas, to tell us why she loves dancing. Eight year-old Sasha truly enjoys competition. She takes dance lessons at the FADS Miami Beach studio “because I saw the trophies in...
Making That Competition Feeling Last Forever… An Open Letter to Pro Dancers
By Jack Rothweiler, Former FADS President One of the most exciting aspects of my position at Fred Astaire Dance Studios (FADS) was taking part in so many of the Fred Astaire Dance Studios’ Regional and National Dance Competitions we host each year. Held in glamorous resort venues around the country, these events give FADS Students,...
How To Stay Calm For Dance Competitions
We don’t always think about ballroom dance as being competitive, but at Fred Astaire Dance Studios, we host numerous regional, national and international Pro-Am and Professional dance competitions, as inspiring opportunities for our students to compete, hone their dancing skills in supportive environments, and experience exciting vacation destinations. These upcoming Fred Astaire Dance Studios National...
Would You Compete With Someone You Have Never Met?
It was on a Wednesday in July at the Mirage Hotel Las Vegas that Ted Postolachi first met his dance partners for the 2015 Fred Astaire World Championships (FAWC). Ted, a Dance Instructor at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Bardonia NY, was set to dance with Anna Tabolina and Ashley Michelle Jones, both of the...
FADS Middletown Shares their Pride in One of their Youngest Students!
The staff at Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Middletown, CT share their pride in one of their youngest stars, nine-year-old Aidan Boutin. Aidan and his twin sister, Abigail, began dancing tap and ballet when they were just three years old. When he was six, Aidan told his mother he wanted to spin the girls like they do...
The Story of a CCDC Newcomer
Many of our new Fred Astaire Dance Studio students soon find that they want more out of ballroom dancing than just a hobby. They begin to really challenge themselves as they work more consistently and passionately on their dance lessons. Some of them, like Wendy Walcott (Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) will even...
After Surgery, Rediscovering Dance
After two knee surgeries, Bree Kleist searched for a new way to keep moving – and rediscovered her love for dance! “My knees were killing me. I spent 8 years in the Air Force, four of them as a heating specialist, kneeling and squatting in front of furnaces and boilers all day long. I spent...