Russian champions take the lead at Fred Astaire Dance Studio

By Tom Blodgett
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Twitter: @sp_blodgett

Olga Akopova and Anton Silantev have danced around the world, earning Russian championships and competing internationally in ballroom dancing.

Now the husband-and-wife team are turning their attention away from competition and to instruction as they take the reins of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Gilbert.

“It’s like, ‘stop the momentum,’” Silantev said about ending their competing days. “We already did the championships. We did that. We did our best. So, we just want to slow down and stop, and start working.”

Though the couple plans to enter one last competition sometime in the next two to three months, they have already started the next phase, taking over ownership of the Gilbert studio Oct. 3 from Lindsey Bianco, who opened it in October 2019.

Bianco is not going far, though, as she is becoming Fred Astaire’s regional marketing director. That is a better fit for a single mom with two boys ages 12 and 9, she said.

It also keeps Bianco in the Fred Astaire family, where she has family history. Her mother is the long-time owner of the Chandler studio and bugged Lindsey to try a couple lessons at a young age.

“She was like, ‘If you take two lessons, I’ll never ask you again,’” Bianco said. “So I did, then here I am 24 years later.”

Bianco became a receptionist at the Chandler studio at age 14, an instructor at 18 and started managing her mom’s studio at 24. Owning her own studio was the natural next step, but the second-shift hours of the studio made it hard as a mom of boys.

“Hopefully I have a long life, and if I wanted to do this again when they’re out of the house, then I will,” she said. “But I just can’t look back and not have been there.”

The timing proved perfect for Akopova and Silantev. The two met in Russia when both were looking for a dance partner. But they ended up dating rather than dance partners, and only paired up on the floor later.

They competed internationally through 2015, then opened a studio in Russia.

“We had some our friends who moved to the United States, and they told us how they [were] happy here, how the things [were] going good,” Akopova said. “We were like, ‘maybe we’ll try, too.’”

The couple moved to Arizona with son Roman, now 5, in tow three years ago, and they started instructing at a Fred Astaire studio in Paradise Valley but were eyeing a chance to have their own studio. The company’s regional director put them in touch with Bianco.

Akopova said they have liked moving from competing to instructing.

“When you see people growing, learning something new, you enjoy the process and enjoy when you see them become better and better,” she said.

Bianco said the business did well after the pandemic, with people looking to get in touch with others again. She calls it Disneyland for adults, a place where they can put all their cares away.

The three also agree that anyone can learn to dance, even those with the proverbial two left feet.

“You can have as many feet as you want,” Bianco joked. “Just come in.”

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert
@sp_blodgett

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).