Don't Miss The Season Premiere of So You Think You Can Dance

Season 4 of the hit dance show So You Think You Can Dance premieres on May 22 at 8 p.m. ET. The two hour premiere will feature footage from open auditions held in Dallas, Charleston, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Washington, DC earlier this year. To be named America's best dancer, dancers perform a variety of styles, including jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and ballroom.

Nigel Lythgoe and ballroom dancer Mary Murphy will continue to serve as judges again along with weekly guest judges, including Hairspray director Adam Shankman; choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon D'Umo; and Mia Michaels.

South Windsor Studio Participates In Relay For Life

Staff members of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in South Windsor, CT will participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life on June 13-14. This fun-filled overnight event runs for 24 hours straight where teams take turns walking or running laps with the goal of keeping at least one person on the track at all times. Cancer never sleeps so neither does the search for a cure! Thank you to the South Windsor studio for taking part in such a worthy cause.

Fred Astaire Dance Studio Shines In Local Version of Dancing With The Stars

Syracuse, New York had their own version of "Dancing With Our Stars" in April with local community leaders paired up with professional partners from dance studios around the area, including the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Fayetteville. Competing in the Grand Ballroom at the Hotel Syracuse, the competitors danced to a full house and kicked off the George & Rebecca Barnes Foundation's capital campaign to raise funds for the restoration of the Barnes Mansion. The evening netted more than $25,000. This event was not only a worthwhile cause but also introduced local "stars" to the exciting world of dance!

Congratulations to George Kilpatrick, of WCNY Connected, and Fred Astaire Dance Instructor Karina Ivanov for taking 2nd place in the event. They also took 2nd place in the individual dance category. Peggy Ogden, of the CNY Community Foundation and Fred Astaire Dance Instructor Roman Manolachi took third place in the swing competition.

Click here to access a slideshow of the event.

West Springfield Studio Dances For American Cancer Society

The Fred Astaire Dance Studio in West Springfield, MA used their dancing shoes to help the American Cancer Society fight cancer on May 17th. An eight member Dancing for Dollars relay team offered ten 30-minute private lessons during a six-hour window to raise funds during the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event.

Dancing With The Stars Pro Helps Young Student

Fabian Sanchez, US Mambo Champion, Fred Astaire studio owner, and a professional dancer on this season's Dancing With The Stars with actress Marlee Matlin, took time out of his busy schedule to help a fifth-grader with a school project. Read more here.

"Sole" Mates: On and Off the Dance Floor

Warren and Babette Brown, Scottish Professional Dance Champions and co-owners of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Jupiter, FL, are partners on and off the dance floor. Competing, managing a dance studio, teaching, and living together might seem like too much but this devoted couple have made it work! Click here to read more.

Birmingham FADS Hearing Impaired Student Inspired by “DWTS” Matlin

Birmingham FADS Hearing Impaired Student Inspired by “DWTS” Matlin Marlee Matlin's footsteps Birmingham woman, deaf since birth, inspired to dance

BY JULIE HINDS • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • April 21, 2008
Stepping confidently in her strappy black high-heeled sandals, Pamela Dangovian practices the quick moves of the cha-cha.

The 48-year-old mom and community volunteer from Birmingham keeps her eyes on the face of her instructor, Leonid Sidorenko, as they move around the roomy floor of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Bloomfield Hills.

She's reading his lips to follow his coaching, because, like current "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Marlee Matlin, she is deaf.

After seeing Matlin compete on ABC's ballroom dancing competition, she got in touch with the studio through the Michigan Relay Center, which helps hearing-impaired people, among others, communicate by phone.

She was inspired by watching Matlin do the cha-cha, waltz and quickstep. Now she's gliding smoothly along in her footsteps.

"I've seen her movies, her TV shows," says Dangovian. "When I saw her on the dance floor, I thought if she can do it, I can do it."

Click here to read the full text of this article.

Area Celebrities Prepare to Step Lively For Charity

Montgomery, AL. Fred Astaire studio partners with locals for good cause
Don't even try to tear Sherry Nath away from the TV during ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."
Just ask her husband, Chuck, who's not even supposed to talk to her unless there's a commercial break.

On Saturday, Nath will have a front-row view of the cha-cha, the tango, the hustle and more at Dancing with Celebrities, a fundraiser she organized to benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. With help from Christa DeButts of the Capital City Club and others in the community, Nath convinced Montgomery area celebs to step in, learn new dances -- and perform in a competition.

"When my husband suggested it, I wasn't sure we could really pull it off," said Nath, a cancer survivor who is serving as the chairwoman of this year's Relay for Life. "But everybody has been so supportive, and it has been a lot of fun."
For weeks now, Fred Astaire Dance Studio instructors have worked with dancing celebs Charlie Colvin, Sieu Tang Wood, Nancy Shinbaum, Homer Horton, Richard Coats and Leslie Bailey, who will compete that evening, with José Barraza serving as DJ and Susan Woody as mistress of ceremonies.

During the event, which includes dinner, guests will vote on their favorite couples by making a donation. The celebrity with the most money wins.
Click here to read the full text of this article.

Dancing with the Stars Links

Last night’s premiere of “Dancing With The Stars” has already sparked a flurry of media coverage. Check out the links below to read some of the more compelling commentary.

“Dancing With The Stars”: The Men on the Los Angeles Times ‘Show Tracker’ blog.

'Dancing With the Stars': The Gute, the Bad, and the Ugly on EW.com.

'Dancing with the Stars' recap: Rating last night's male performances on Freep.com, the online version of Detroit Free Press.

‘Dancing:’ The parade of sequins begins on Boston.com’s ‘Viewer Discretion’ blog.

“Dancing With The Stars:” Guys on Newsday.com.

Week 1 'Dancing With The Stars' Pre-Show Interview With Jason Taylor on Starpulse.com’s ‘Entertainment News Blog.’

And be sure to visit the official Dancing With The Stars site for all the latest information on your favorite performers!

Tune in tonight for the second half of the season six premier to watch FADS’ own Fabian Sanchez and Tony Dovolani show off their moves on the dance floor.

Who Will Win "Dancing With The Stars"?

Don’t miss the Season 6 premier of “Dancing With The Stars”, tonight at 8 pm EST/PST on ABC.

Who Will Win "Dancing With The Stars"?

See How This Season's Competitors Stack Up

(CBS) When the current crop of "Dancing With The Stars" competitors kicks off the show's sixth season Monday night, it won't just be a battle over who has the best moves.

Contestant ranking in this show is based on a combination of the judges' scores and the fan votes, so popularity counts just as much as skill.

That's what makes it tricky to predict which of the stars will make it to the finals and on to the ultimate prize: a tacky disco ball trophy.

This season's stars include several actors, an R&B singer, a few sports champions, and even an illusionist/comedian. Some of them have experience dancing, others benefit from the discipline of athletics, and all have performed in front of a crowd.

Click here to read the full text of this article.