Fred Astaire Madison Ballroom Dance Lessons

Peter Started to dance at a very early age in his home country of Denmark, and has competed all over the world. Peter was trained by some of the world’s most well-respected coaching in ballroom dance and Latin, and won the American Latin Championship in 1996. He graduated from business school and earned a Master’s Degree in Ballroom Dance from the world-renowned ADTV Program in Germany.

Linda began her career as a gymnast and dancer in her native Czech Republic. She quickly discovered that dancing allowed her to more deeply fulfill her creative nature, and she represented her homeland in many European competitions. Linda also received her Master’s Degree from the ADTV Program in Germany, where she focused on dance technique, costume design, and construction of choreography.

Peter and Linda met in Germany where they lived, taught, and competed before moving to Milwaukee to join the Fred Astaire Team. Three years later, they realized their dream of owning their own studio, opening Madison’s first Fred Astaire Studio in 2008!

Josie is a constant traveler. During her childhood as the daughter of an Air Force officer, Josie lived in many different places, as varied as Washington, DC and North Dakota. Growing up, she was an active participant in a wide array of activities, from acting in school drama productions, to directing community service projects, to leading high school students in organized political debates. Through all of her experiences, she never lost her wanderlust, and spent much of her time devouring books about far off places and cultures.

Josie got her first taste of international travel while participating in summer exchange program to Germany in high school, and she was hooked. During her university studies, she spent a semester studying German in Germany. During another semester spent studying in Hungary, Josie discovered a great love of Central and Eastern Europe, traveling extensively throughout the region. After graduating from university with a Bachelor's in Peace and Social Justice, Josie moved to London before meeting her future husband and eventually settling in Madison. She remains an avid lover of travel, of other cultures, and of learning anything and everything she can about the world!

Josie's life centers around the true love of her life, her sweater-wearing kitty, Q-Tip! Josie loves to read, write snarky essays on life's conundrums, and anything to do with yarn and/or pointy sticks. 

Jane was born and raised in central WI. At a very young age she was introduced to several forms of dance such as ballet and tap. She enjoyed it immensely, but did not have the chance to continue in pursuing it. However, she was able to carry on in the arts. Jane graduated high school and went on to college to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

Besides loving the arts, Jane also has a profound passion for working with animals. She grew up with many strange pets over the years, one even being a squirrel! She worked at a veterinary clinic while attending college and continued even after graduating and starting her career. She has a huge heart when it comes to animals, especially those in need.

Recently, Jane and her family permanently relocated to the Madison area. She feels blessed to be in such a delightful place, and expects to learn a great deal about dance working for the Madison Fred Astaire Dance Studio

Born in the former Yugoslavia, Bojan has always been interested in dance and performing. At the age of 7, he enjoyed choir and theater in school, but that did not last for much longer. A few years later, due to the war in the former Yugoslavia, he and his family were forced to move to Germany in search of better and safer circumstances. It was in Germany that he got the opportunity to join choir once again and start dancing jazz and modern forms of dance.

At the age of 15 he moved once again to the United States to explore his opportunities on this side of the Atlantic. It was in the States that Bojan first discovered hip hop. Still, it was not enough to satiate his need to dance. Years later he discovered ballroom dancing and started teaching at a studio in the suburbs of Chicago.  After several years, Bojan moved once again, to Madison. He has decided to continue his dancing career here at Fred Astaire.

Life hasn't always been easy and enjoyable for Bojan; however, he's always managed to make it enjoyable through dance. His his one goal in life is to show his students that despite any trial, all things can be made more enjoyable through the wonder of dance.

Joseph comes to us from the world of musical theater. A talented singer, dancer, and actor, Joseph decided to make Madison and the Fred Astaire Dance Studio his home. Joseph most recently won his first mirror ball trophy at the 2011 Dance-A-Thon. Due to his spectacular homage to Elton John in his 70’s peak, the award was officially for best costume, and the win was determined by a dance off. Joseph won with panache and pizazz!

Although Joseph’s background is the stage, he believes the famous words of the Bard himself:”All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have exits and entrances and one man, in his time, plays many parts…”

Marina, originally from Chelyabinsk, Russia, grew up surrounded by music! Both of Marina’s parents are musicians, so it was no surprise when she started learning to play the piano and violin at the young age of 6. She also started taking ice skating lessons that year, and through ice skating discovered her great passion for dancing. When Marina was 10, her family moved to Berlin, Germany, where she attended a high school dedicated to music, focusing her studies on flute, piano, and musical theory. However, her true love of dance never died, and Marina made the difficult decision to give up her musical focus and instead to focus on dancing. She attended Humboldt University of Berlin, where she studied Gender Studies and continued to dance.

Marina won the Berlin Latin Championship, and shortly thereafter moved to the U.S., Her first stop in America was in North Carolina, where she began dancing with a great partner. Together, they won the Open Rhythm Division at a competition in Memphis, and went on to become finalists in Latin at Nationals in Las Vegas.

Marina holds Marilyn Monroe as a personal role model, because she embodies the joy of being a woman. Marina has many goals, and is always striving to achieve something new each day. She feels that it most important to take yourself a step higher every day! Marina loves to laugh, and through laughter and fun, she enjoys sharing her passion for dancing. She loves the positive energy that dancing brings into people’s lives, and can’t wait to show you how dancing can bring out the depth in your personality and make you so much stronger!

Dmitry Durante comes to Fred Astaire Madison from Moldova, a beautiful country in Europe where he began his dance career when he was 9 years old. Dmitry has been a finalist as well as the champion at the Moldovian National Competition, and represented his country with honor at many International Dance Sport Fereration competitions in countries across Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, and Italy. Dmitry is proud that he has always placed in the finals at competitions.

In his 17 years of dancing, Dmitry has been coached and trained by some of the best coaches around the world. He has accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience from his extrensive travels. Dmitry is quad-lingual, speaking Russian, Italian, Romanian, Ukrainian, as well as English.

Dmitry's expertise is in International Latin Standard and American Rhythm, but of all the dances, waltz is his favorite to dance. Since joining the Fred Astaire Madison team in 2011, Dmitry continues to pursue his passion to become one of the best dancers in the United States!

Vera was born here in Madison, but at the tender age of 1, her parents dragged her out of the cold and across the world: from California, Paris, South Carolina, Oregon, finally settling in Nantes, France. Vera grew up in Nantes, and spent her time dancing, biking, walking and drawing along the many rivers of that beautiful Breton city. Because of her upbringing, Vera has never been prone to stay in one place very long... when she was old enough to leave the house, she flew across the Atlantic Ocean once again to the United States, where she received her Bachelor's in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies from Brandeis University.

In her junior year, Vera gave into her wanderlust once again; she bought a ticket to Syria, took a semester off of college and departed on a new and fantastic adventure. In Syria, she competed in the International Arab Latin Competition in salsa and Argentine tango. And if you'd like your lesson to be taught in Arabic, no problem!

In her free time, Vera loves to dance barefoot, read fiction, write poetry, draw, drink tea, and bike along the river. She also loves to practice speaking the many languages she has studied throughout her life. One of her many goals is to publish a book of poetry about her travels in the Arab world.

Richard is the resident "English guy" here at Fred Astaire Madison. Richard began dancing when he was 4 years-old, thanks in very large part to his older sister. She was taking a local dance class on Saturday mornings, and one day their mum drug a very reluctant Richard along for the ride. Richard was enthralled by all the girls in funny leggings and baggy off-the-shoulder tops (a la Madonna at her 80s peak). After asking his mother if he could stay to watch, Richard was asked to stand in with a girl whose partner had not shown. After a few minutes, it struck Richard that he was not only having loads of fun, but was pretty good at this dancing thing! The rest is, as they say, history: by the time he was 8, Richard was competing at an international level, competing in some of the most amazing venues in the world.

His greatest memory was competing at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England...the true heart of all International dance competitions! Richard has been honored with some pretty incredible titles, including 6th in the World in his age group at Blackpool and South of England champion. He was chosen to represent England at a European competition, which England proceeded to win!

One thing many may not guess about Richard is that he is actuslly quite shy; dancing is the only thing that allows him to come out of that shell because of his great passion for the art. "Ask me to talk in front of 50 people and I will go to pieces... but ask me to perform in front of 3000 and I'll have no problem!"