Staff

Vernon Hills:

Julius
Julius was born and raised in Waukegan, Illinois. He attended many different colleges in search for his career in life. Yet, while studying hard he couldn’t stop dancing. Julius began dancing in middle school where he discovered his first love, break dancing. He has won various competitions and performed for many celebrities.

Now Julius has brought his passion of dance, knowledge of technique, and spunky personality here to share with all of you!

Jason Stewart
Jason was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a young man he was introduced to ballroom dancing and soon realized he was no more alive than when he was on the dance floor.

From that point on Jason surrounded himself with dance. In addition to ballroom, he has studied other forms of dancing such as ballet, jazz, and hip hop.

During his college years he competed with the University of Michigan Ballroom Dance Team and placed first at numerous competitions including the national championships. He was also successful in helping his team defend their title as national champions. Jason has also spent numerous years as an instructor for the University of Michigan Ballroom Dance Club as well as serving on it’s Board of Directors. Jason looks forward to sharing his knowledge and passion for ballroom dance with the Fred Astaire family.

Elena
Born in Minsk, Belarus Yelena came to the U.S. as a baby. She began her extensive dance training at the age of five studying ballet, jazz, and soon after falling in love with ballroom. Elena is thrilled to share her passion for ballroom dancing with her students.

Mount Prospect:

Andre
Andre was born in the Chicago land area. Before dancing he started running and wrestling in the 6th grade. Throughout his life, Andre has won many individual and team titles in both sports.

Recently he placed 5th in the NJCAA National Championships 2005. All last summer Andre competed in many open 5K races, winning several races like the Unity Day 5K, and the Elgin Valley Foxtrot 5K.

He started dancing 4 years ago and loved it. Andre likes to encourage his students to enjoy dancing as much as he does!!

Max
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Max has been ballroom dancing for 13 years. As a dance instructor, his experience runs well over 10 years.

He has competed all over the world and achieved some the highest prizes from 10th place at Blackpool Open International Latin Championships held in England to 15th place at the International Latin Championships held in Riga, Latvia where only the 1st and 2nd place couples represent each country. Recently, the multi-time U.S. champion moved here to Chicago where he is proud to join the Fred Astaire Team and continue his career as a dancer/ dance instructor.