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• The Fred Astaire System
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• Menu of Dances
• Wedding Dance Lessons
• First Dance: Top 10 Tips
• F.A.Q.
• Our Instructors
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"Some people seem to feel that good dancers are born, but all the good dancers I know have been taught or trained."

Our Instructors

Earl and Jennifer Batol, owners and instructors, have collectively been with the Fred Astaire organization for over 20 years, and are currently celebrating their sixth year in business at their Belmont location and their first in Norwood!

Earl is a Gold certified instructor in American Style Smooth and Rhythm. While teaching and competing professionally, he became dance director of the successful FADS Hanover in 1998. From 1999-2002, Earl coached the MIT competitive ballroom dance team. He also briefly coached the Northeastern University team in 2002.

Nina DiPerrio grew up dancing locally in Newton, MA. She is trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary and Hip-Hop styles. She is a former member of the Jocelyn Stuart Carter Youth Dance Company of Contemporary Dance. She joined the Fred Astaire family in January of 2008 in the Belmont studio, since then she has spent two years training in Ft. Walton Beach Florida working with many nationally accredited dancers including: Marylynn Benitez, Georgia Ambarian, Val Chmerkovskiy, and Tony Dovolani. Nina and her partner Chris Uy are Fred Astaire World Championship Finalists in both Rising-Star and Open-Rhythm, also are top 2 Finalists in the Florida Regional Events. She has experience in the Theatrical and Cabaret divisions, and has performed for the past 3 years in the “Dancing with Desire” Fundraiser, dancing with the professionals from Dancing with the Stars. Nina is excited to be back in her home state and is ready to share her dance knowledge!

Jennifer started dancing at the tender age of five, and by the age of eleven, she had acquired extensive training in jazz, tap, and ballet and was performing in theatres with local dance troupes. In high school, Jenn captained the dance team, and in 1996 she received a dance degree from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Jennifer began teaching at FADS Hanover after graduation. She is highly regarded in the region as an exceptional dancer, a compassionate teacher and a dedicated professional.

Rachel Palmieri has been dancing since the age of 8, specializing in Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop and Modern. During college, she choreographed several pieces for her college’s dance company, was a principal dancer in one of the school’s musicals, “Reefer Madness”, and was an active member of the college’s performing arts department. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine & Performing Arts with a concentration in Music in 2008. She came to the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Belmont starting off as an administrator and couldn’t resist the itch to dance! She is thankful to have been given an opportunity to be part of the Norwood family! Rachel is Zumba certified & teaching it here at the studio!

Martin Rycroft started dancing at the age of 4 and by age 8 was already into ballroom and Latin American dancing styles. He soon began competing regularly, soon reaching the World Junior 10 Dance semi-finals and representing Wales as the Welsh Champion throughout Europe and beyond. Later on, Martin became a part of the chart-topping pop band The Fast Food Rockers. In 2006 he appeared in the Channel 4 production of "Boys Will Be Girls" before joining a Take That tribute band and working as a choreographer/performer throughout Manchester. Martin recently joined the Norwood/Belmont team, where he splits his time between the two studios.

Dance photo above generously provided by Mark Druy.

Kalin Mitov. Born and raised in Bulgaria, Kalin was inspired to start ballroom dancing at the age of 7, after he saw his older sister's classmate in a local competition. He soon started competing himself as an amateur youth, and consistently placed in the finals of many prestigious competitions throughout Europe. At the age of 18, he became one of the youngest assistant coaches at the Vratza Youth Center where he originally trained. Kalin went on to perform in various dance shows in Bulgaria as well as in Cyprus and Turkey. Kalin joined the Fred Astaire company in 2005. He is excited to be part of the Norwood team and is committed to helping his students fulfill all their dance dreams.