Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Russian couple open dance studio
Owners traveled far to open their new Fred Astaire dance studio in Westtown
WESTTOWN » It was a long and not very direct route that Dmitry Karabanov and Daria Emelianova took to open their new dance studio just south of West Chester.
He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s third biggest city located on the River Volga in the southeast part of the country. She is from Cheboksary, a small town in southeast Russia also on the Volga. They started dancing at ages 6 and 5.
In Russia, children attend dance classes the way American children join soccer teams.
The couple, who have been together for 13 years and married three, went on to become championship caliber dancers. But they wanted something else. They wanted their own studio.
“In Russia it was difficult,” Karabanov said, noting that he worked as an engineer during the day and Emelianova was a psychologist. “We did our dancing at night and on the weekends. We wanted to find a way to make our dream come true.”
Pursuit of that dream started in earnest in April of 2012 when the operators of Fred Astaire Dance Studio Syracuse, New York, welcomed Karabanov and Emelianova to their studio.
When the couple came from Russia they were already competing successfully in the International Latin division, but working at an American studio required them to not only learn the language but also the American style of dance. They earned their first title in October 2012 in Orlando, Florida, when they won the Show Dance Division making them the Fred Astaire U.S. National Champions.
(For those too young to remember, Fred Astaire is considered by many to be the greatest multitalented dancer of all time, starring in movies in the 1930s and 1940s and famous for his dance routines with Ginger Rogers. The first Fred Astaire Dance Studio opened in 1947, on Park Avenue in New York City. Today there are 170 U.S. and nine international studios.)
In 2013, Karabanov and Emelianova continued competing successfully at Fred Astaire competitions but also began attending open competitions. They were finalists and prizewinners at top competitions such as the American Star Ball, the Virginia State Open, the Capital Dancesport Championship, the Empire Dance Championship and they won at the Dance a la Carte competition, according to background information they provided.
As if that competition schedule wasn’t challenging enough, Karabanov and Emelianova decided to start competing in the American Smooth and Rhythm divisions, styles they said they have grown to love just as much as their original International Style. The hard work paid off again as they became Fred Astaire U.S. National Champions in the Closed Smooth Division and Vice-Champions in the Rhythm Division.
Now, Karabanov, 33, and Emelianova, 29, have opened their own Fred Astaire studio in the Westtown Village Shopping center at routes 202 and 926.
There, they teach 19 dances, including the foxtrot, waltz, tango, rumba, swing and more. The repertoire covers the full range of ballroom dances – American, Latin, International Style, Ballroom Style, even Exhibition and Theater Arts dances. The couple offers private lessons, group lessons and practice parties.
People take dancing for a number of different reasons, they said: to make new friends, to prepare for a special occasion such as a wedding or cruise, to lose weight, to improve their confidence level.
For couples, the motivation may be to do something together once the children have left home, Emelianova said. But the most common reason is simpler. “They want to have some fun,” she said.
There are no hard and fast rules for running a successful dance studio, the couple said. Their Syracuse area studio had around 150 active students. They plan to take their dancing to the community, working with nonprofits and schools. In addition to teaching beginners, the couple will work with students who want to participate in pro-am events with them.
“We did that in the New York-New Jersey area and we’ll do the same thing here,” Karabanov said of the pro-am competitions.
“You can be the dancer that you want,” Emelianova added. “If you can walk, you can dance.”
Emelianova said the couple misses their friends and family in Russia and returns about once a year.
“We are not planning to return (permanently) ... we are building our business here,” she said. “It was our dream! And we love to live in the U.S.A.”