From Applebee’s to the Ballroom: How Tiana Ramirez Found Her Calling in Dance

What happens when you follow a nudge… and it leads you to a whole new life?

In this heartwarming and high-energy episode, I chat with Tiana Ramirez—mom, dance teacher, and co-owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studios Sarasota—about how a newspaper ad led her from Applebee’s to the ballroom, and how she’s now using dance to help people find joy, health, and even love.

We dive into:

• Tiana’s transition from hospitality to entrepreneurship
• Why ballroom dance is more than just movement—it’s therapy, connection, and brain training
• The power of starting something new at any stage of life
• Stories of transformation from her students
• And yes, her go-to sangria recipe makes an appearance too

Key Moments: 00:03:08 – Tiana’s unexpected start in dance after graduating with a film degree
00:05:39 – Why ballroom dance is better for your brain than running
00:07:51 – The legacy and history of Fred Astaire Dance Studios Sarasota
00:09:57 – How her restaurant experience shaped her business philosophy
00:13:07 – The Fred Astaire dance level system (like karate belts for ballroom!)
00:18:00 – Real stories of students transforming their health and confidence
00:23:49 – What Tiana says to women who feel nervous or think it’s “too late”
00:27:00 – Dance as nonverbal communication and emotional connection
00:30:50 – How partner dancing breaks down prejudice and builds understanding
00:32:44 – Behind the scenes of ballroom competitions and performances
00:36:23 – How to find and attend local dance events
00:38:38 – Tiana’s favorite drink: sangria, superhero parties, and Myspace nostalgia
00:42:50 – Final thoughts: chase the spark, and just do the thing

Whether you're looking for inspiration, movement, or just a reminder that it’s not too late to try something new—this one’s for you.

Learn more at: fredastaire.com/sarasota
Instagram: @fadssarasota

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Transcript

Podcast Conversation - Tiana Ramirez and Penny Fitzgerald

[00:01:27] Tiana Ramirez: Tiana, how are you? I'm good. How are you? Good. Good. Good. Happy Monday. 

[00:01:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Happy Monday. Happy St. Patty's Day.

[00:01:38] Tiana Ramirez: I'm wearing blue. 

[00:01:41] Penny Fitzgerald: You know what? I don't have any green on either. 

[00:01:43] Tiana Ramirez: Isn't this when we used to get pinched in school? Yeah. Yes. Yikes. I forgot. 

[00:01:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Hmm. Well, we'll have to run out it after and grab something green and stick it on. 

[00:01:56] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah, like a little hat or something. Green beads. [00:02:00] 

[00:02:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Mardi Gras beads. Yes, for sure. For sure.

[00:02:06] Oh, I'm so excited to talk to you because I, I know so very little. I was thinking this morning, okay, I know that you're a mom. I know that you're a fantastic dancer and a very patient teacher. 

[00:02:17] Tiana Ramirez: That's 

[00:02:17] Penny Fitzgerald: good. And, and that you're a boss lady. 

[00:02:22] Tiana Ramirez: Well, I pretend very well. No, I don't know. It's like, you know, it was never kind of my thing to kind of go into the boss lady.

[00:02:36] But when the opportunity came, I just kind of ran with it. And I still do consider myself at the end of the day, a dance teacher. And that's what I kind of struggle with. I'm like, Hey, am I a dance teacher? Am I a business person? 

[00:02:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. 

[00:02:49] Tiana Ramirez: You both, but my art lies as being, is, is teaching dance. 

[00:02:53] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. 

[00:02:54] Tiana Ramirez: Yes.

[00:02:54] Everything. Okay, 

[00:02:56] Penny Fitzgerald: cool. Awesome. Okay. So let's back up for my audience. [00:03:00] Cause we're just meeting you. So tell us a little bit about you, like, um, what you do and we'll get into some more questions from 

[00:03:08] Tiana Ramirez: that. So. I've had two jobs my entire life at the young, young age of 38, I think I'm 21 in my mind. Um, but yes, I started as a hostess at Applebee's in Port Charlotte, Florida, and then I worked my way up to becoming a corporate trainer.

[00:03:27] So then I opened restaurants. And helped, um, anything from the front of the house to the back of the house. So that was kind of my thing through high school and through college. And then when I graduated from the university of Tampa with a film degree, Oh, wow. I saw an ad in the newspaper for dance instructors.

[00:03:45] And so I said, wait a minute, you get paid to dance. So I just on a whim drove up to Palm Harbor and I walked in and they said, look, all you need is desire. Do you have dance shoes in your car? And I said, yeah, I took a dance partnering class in [00:04:00] college to just get my GPA up. Cause I mean, it was an easy class.

[00:04:03] We did very minimal dancing and it was more about just mixing and mingling. You know, the, the girls and the guy ratio was very uneven. So anyways, so I started right away in training class and then I knew that this is where I wanted to be. And that was 15 years ago. Well, no, excuse me, 17 years ago. 

[00:04:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow.

[00:04:23] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. 

[00:04:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, cool. So did you, did you love dance growing up? I mean, were you, 

[00:04:29] Tiana Ramirez: I loved it. I didn't understand it. 

[00:04:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:04:33] Tiana Ramirez: It wasn't forced to do it. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't, it just wasn't in the cards for us. Um, but I was always. it. Even ice skating, you know, when I would see the Olympic ice skaters and the ice dancing, I'm like, man, this is so beautiful.

[00:04:47] And I always just loved music. So in my head, I was always kind of like making up dances, but I never put it within like to show. Yeah. So when I was able to start. [00:05:00] In 2008, I kind of just like went full force. It was like that five-year-old that wanted to do it came out. just went for it. 

[00:05:08] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. That's so cool.

[00:05:09] So if TikTok was a thing back then, man, you would've been, oh man. . 

[00:05:13] Tiana Ramirez: I would've been all over TikTok. , you went all the dances. That's fun. Oh my gosh. Going during the pandemic. 

[00:05:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, right. Okay. So one , I remember you. Um, okay. So for my audience, I. Um, went to your studio with my husband, um, we were invited and, um, learn some steps and stuff with you guys.

[00:05:39] And I remember you saying that ballroom dance is a better workout than running or burns more calories. 

[00:05:46] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. So, um, one hour of ballroom dancing is equivalent to three miles of running. Wow. And it's because it's weight bearing exercise and it's not, um, super high impact [00:06:00] unless you want it to be, but the why it's more, it's because of the brain.

[00:06:05] So when you're stimulating, you know, the brain, my story, back it up. I taught a, um, triathlete once and I remember him telling me, there's no way you're going to be able to make me sweat. And I'm 

[00:06:21] Penny Fitzgerald: like, 

[00:06:22] Tiana Ramirez: okay, well, 

[00:06:22] Penny Fitzgerald: watch me, 

[00:06:23] Tiana Ramirez: you will be able to because of the, you know, the use of the brain and trying to physically do it in your body.

[00:06:32] And you know, you're, you're using all senses, you're doing the kines, kinesthetic, you know, the feeling, the visual, the auditorial, and then you're firing your brain at the same time, trying to tell your feet what to do, tell your arms what to do. So that's a huge side of it. And then you're using like muscle stabilizers that you're not.

[00:06:50] And you're like, why does that hurt in between my pinkie and my ankle? Cause you were born dancing. 

[00:06:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And core. It takes a lot of, [00:07:00] um, balance. I feel like it really helps. I could feel that. 

[00:07:05] Tiana Ramirez: It's a great thing to work on just your natural gait, you know, and the number one thing in our population in Sarasota is falling.

[00:07:13] You know, that's one of the number one accidents really. Um, and it's just because of our gait, you know, when we start to lose our natural ability to walk and we fall. It just happens. So it's a huge benefit with ballroom dancing because it's constantly nothing but working on your gait. 

[00:07:30] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So cool. And your posture, you have to have really good posture.

[00:07:34] Tiana Ramirez: Absolutely. And that just makes it. All the better. Even when I'm driving, like, make sure I set up nicely.

[00:07:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. Okay. So back up a bit and, um, tell everyone, um, about your studio and how you got started in that. 

[00:07:51] Tiana Ramirez: So Fred Astaire Sarasota is probably the second oldest studio in the U. S. So we have about 240, yeah, [00:08:00] 249 studios in the U. S. Um, Fort Walton Beach and the Panhandle, Panhandle is the oldest, but we have now been here.

[00:08:09] 49 years. 

[00:08:10] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. 

[00:08:11] Tiana Ramirez: And it was in the same location until a couple years ago. So, um, it had two owners before myself and my partner and Burma Smith was her name and she was fantastic. She left a really big legacy in this business. And then, um, Enrique, who now owns the Venice location, had the Sarasota studio.

[00:08:32] And when I, I was dancing in ST Pete at the Fred Astaire in ST Petersburg and I met my dance partner down here. So we were commuting back and forth and then one day he's like, why don't you just work here? And I'm like, you know what? I should. And so I did for about a year and then we kind of, you know, we're doing our professional dancing together and that was going really well.

[00:08:54] And we just decided that. Why don't we just open a studio together? And then Enrique at the [00:09:00] time said, why don't you take this one? And we were like, we didn't know it was an option. Well, here we go. Of course, we already know our peers. We already know all of the students. Sounds like a no brainer. So, you know, I will say that I did skip a lot of steps as far as starting a business because I didn't start from scratch.

[00:09:19] I kind of took over one, um, which, you know, could be bad and good, but, um, that was in 2006. 16, excuse me, 2016. And, um, we moved our locations right after two hurricane seasons ago. And just double the size and double the love and double the joy. 

[00:09:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. How fun. Well, and everything here is measured in hurricane seasons.

[00:09:43] Tiana Ramirez: Like, how many hurricane seasons ago was that? I'm hoping for a not as good this one, or not as bad this one. 

[00:09:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Right, right. Oh my gosh. Yeah, last, last year was kind of 

[00:09:54] Tiana Ramirez: tough. 

[00:09:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Taxing on all of us. 

[00:09:57] Tiana Ramirez: Everybody, every other week was like, come on. [00:10:00] 

[00:10:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Dang. So, If St. Pete, you were dancing in St. Pete, were you living up there and then moved down 

[00:10:06] Tiana Ramirez: here?

[00:10:07] Yep. So, um, I kind of always stayed in that Tampa area since I was there. Oh, sure. Just commute. So the first studio I started out was in Palm Harbor. It's kind of like a little Stunneden area. And, um, I was living in St. Pete and then eventually I decided to, I actually went back to Applebee's in between there for like a year.

[00:10:28] And then the St. Pete location called me and said, Hey, we, you know, we would really love a female teacher. And then I was like, well, here's my chance to go back. 

[00:10:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Nice. 

[00:10:37] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. That was a great learning experience too, because that was a really big, successful studio. And, um, I had to learn really fast and kind of was thrown to the wolves.

[00:10:51] So I think that was a benefit because then I didn't really have time to. Think about what I was doing. I just had to do it. 

[00:10:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh, huh. 

[00:10:58] Tiana Ramirez: And I came quickly. [00:11:00] 

[00:11:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Okay. So as a teacher, you were, you think it was okay. 

[00:11:05] Tiana Ramirez: I was thrown in to teach students that were more advanced than I was. And I was like, Oh, wow. How can I do this?

[00:11:13] Definitely not the normal situation, but fortunately, there was some change of, okay. Um, teachers and everybody was getting mixed around a little bit and they're like, Tiana, here's your day. And I'm like, back there with my manual, like studying, okay, right foot to the side. And at this point I turn, but I went out there and I did it.

[00:11:33] I might've taught the ladies part to the men, but I did it. 

[00:11:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. Wow. Yeah, that's, um, you'd have to learn really quickly what, how to do it. So I, I remember at the studio, you guys were explaining with Fred Astaire, there are like, is it four different levels that you can achieve? Yep. It's almost like karate.

[00:11:57] Right? I mean, you're 

[00:11:59] Tiana Ramirez: very similar. [00:12:00] Okay. 

[00:12:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Describe how that works. 

[00:12:03] Tiana Ramirez: So as teachers, we go through that same process. So, um, we start at kind of like a beginner level. That's just learning your hands and feet based and there's a social foundation level, which is exactly that, your foundation. And then we go into bronze, silver, and gold.

[00:12:18] And within bronze, silver, and gold, there's levels in there. So I equate it to like, um, freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, senior year. And I think the same thing now, but on, um, Now it's your residency, if, if we're, you know, or medical school, then you're doing your residency. So that's kind of the, the progression, but it naturally progresses, progresses from the very beginning up into the highest level of social dancing and they all build on top of each other.

[00:12:48] So very karate, you know, you're first learning a kick this way and then your next level, you're learning a little bit higher. Now you have a turn to it, but it all kind of goes back to this same base. Okay. And that's why, you know, [00:13:00] Fred Astaire in 1947, when he started Fred Astaire Dance Studios, you know, he said, great dancers aren't born, they're trained.

[00:13:07] And I had zero dance experience as far as technical training. I just knew what I loved and I went through the same process as we teach our students. So I think that's a huge thing too, because I'm like, Hey, look, I'm living proof. If I can do it, anybody can do it. You just have to go through the process.

[00:13:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow, and you didn't have to unlearn anything 

[00:13:29] Tiana Ramirez: because I didn't have any I didn't really have any habits. 

[00:13:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah 

[00:13:33] Tiana Ramirez: When I didn't have any bad habits when I took the dance partnering class, you know Truly, it was just a class to an easy class to keep my GPA up. Uh huh It was very far off from filmmaking Kind of broke up the day and, you know, I met class and, 

[00:13:51] Penny Fitzgerald: well, and I can imagine some of my audience is probably some of my people are thinking that was an easy class.[00:14:00] 

[00:14:01] Tiana Ramirez: Well, you know, there was 75 kids in the class. So what could we really do other than, okay, this is how you hold onto your dance partner. This is how you move to the right two times. This is how you move to the left two times. And I think for me too, it kind of showed me a different world of. Of more of a chivalrous It's a dance world, right?

[00:14:21] Oh, may I have this dance? Yes, you may. May I grab your hand, please this way, you know, so it was very interesting because you know, most college students aren't doing that. Now, if somebody asked me to dance socially, you know, I have a level of expectation, like don't just grab me. You should ask me and invite me.

[00:14:41] And, um, I think that's, you know, something that we should all keep just like opening the door and holding the door for people. It's just. Something that we kind of got away from. 

[00:14:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Very nice. Yeah. And it's not necessarily gender based, um, cause yeah, I hold the door for the person behind me and [00:15:00] yeah. Wow. Okay, cool.

[00:15:03] So

[00:15:06] I have so many questions going through me. Okay. So how did you transition then? So you had your Applebee's training, so you had, you had a lot of various background and some business knowledge through the Applebee's. Experience, right? And then how did that translate into your dance studio? How did you, like, I keep thinking about, okay, you have the accounting piece of it, the recruiting piece of it, the marketing, all of that.

[00:15:32] How did you grasp that? Or how did you transition into that? 

[00:15:37] Tiana Ramirez: So the great thing about Fred Astaire being a franchise is we do have access to a home office and we have access to a fantastic team that if for any time, you know, any reason that I'm struggling, I just pick up the phone and they can walk me through something.

[00:15:51] But I will say, you know, you know, the cheers where everybody knows your name. Yeah. So that was kind [00:16:00] of been my motto from the beginning. So when I was working in the service industry, I would have your drink, your food already ordered the minute you were walking in the door because I had such a large, regular base and I kind of said to myself, what's the difference?

[00:16:16] I'm providing a service. It's not a food service, but I'm providing a service and at the end of the day, I'm building a relationship with everybody that I truly care about and that they've trusted me out of all people to. To teach them how to dance. So I kind of just take it back to that You want to go where everybody knows your name?

[00:16:37] so it's simple as you know focusing more on the Greeting to everybody and and how was your day and and checking in all the time And yeah, it's about the dancing too, but there's way There's so much more to it. Wow But as far as like the counting and all the recruiting stuff, we have a great team that helps but I do think that um It kind of just comes with [00:17:00] your next step.

[00:17:00] You're like, well, here, strap in and let's go. If I mess it up, I mess it up. I'll have hopefully some help to fix it. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. 

[00:17:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Yeah. If you notice you're messing up, then maybe, uh, yeah. Now it's time to make clinicals. 

[00:17:17] Tiana Ramirez: The break is on the left. Yeah. Not on the right. 

[00:17:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So much to learn, right? 

[00:17:26] Tiana Ramirez: It was definitely a transition.

[00:17:27] Like I say, I still kind of think of myself as, as a, as a, I'll forever be a dance instructor, and I don't think that's bad. 

[00:17:36] Penny Fitzgerald: No, absolutely. 

[00:17:38] Tiana Ramirez: I don't know if a, a multi studio owner is in my makeup. I don't know if being a board member or a a member of corporate is in there. Maybe if it, if it happens, it happens, but it would happen.

[00:17:53] Organically. I don't want it to be something that's forced because, you know, there's nothing better than being able to [00:18:00] change people's lives through dancing. Oh, wow. Yeah. It's been pretty cool. I mean, I've had students find love here. I've had students, um, thought, refine themselves. Um, you know, the, the stories are just kind of endless.

[00:18:15] The health benefits, you know, we have had students walk in on a cane and then, you know, six months later they're off all their blood pressure medication. They're not using their cane anymore. They dropped their, you know, and that's why I'm curious. I wonder if this could be like a prescribed. Well, 

[00:18:35] Penny Fitzgerald: wouldn't that be great if we focused on getting healthy instead of medicating 

[00:18:41] Tiana Ramirez: healing from the inside out?

[00:18:43] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Exactly. Well, and I know, um, some of my friends who are beyond 65 have the, you know, the Medicare where you get, I think it's called silver sneakers. 

[00:18:56] Tiana Ramirez: Oh, 

[00:18:56] Penny Fitzgerald: where they get, um, memberships to [00:19:00] gyms at a very discounted rate and it, it, um, is for their benefit, their health, you know, they stay healthier because they're working out.

[00:19:08] So I would think in, you know, what you're doing is really, well, I know some of your students, um, that's how I came to you through some of your students that, um, they big reason they started. Was to for brain health to keep their minds sharp and to maybe re stimulate some of those Neural pathways that are a little bit clogged.

[00:19:31] Tiana Ramirez: Well, I mean, it's a scientific fact that ballroom dancing Builds new neural pathways. 

[00:19:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow 

[00:19:40] Tiana Ramirez: builds maybe not the right word Creates or helps produce. Yeah. Yeah new neural pathways Wow. I mean, it was a few years ago, we had a gentleman student that, um, was a, uh, a research patient at John Hopkins in Pennsylvania or excuse me, Maryland.

[00:19:59] [00:20:00] And they told him, what are you doing? Because your brain is sharp as can be. And he was in his nineties. So I had ballroom dance and they're like, do not stop. I don't want to say it's a number one thing that could help fight dementia, but I mean, if you look at it, it's creating new neural pathways and those are the things that go away.

[00:20:21] So, you know, I get Sudoku and, you know, puzzles, but man, let's put the physicality part to it as well. That doesn't have to be, you know, dancing with the stars. It can be for any season of life. That's why I love it. Like my six year old, she's kicking butt doing ballroom dancing, but I want her to kick butt when she's, you know, 106.

[00:20:43] I want her to be able to still do this at any level, at any season of life. And that's, that's something truly special because some people say, Oh, I started too late. No, you didn't. And you start anytime. 

[00:20:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Anytime. Yep. 

[00:20:58] Tiana Ramirez: You might have different goals, but [00:21:00] don't we all at any point in life? 

[00:21:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Yeah. Right. For sure.

[00:21:04] Yeah. That's a, that's another thing too. I feel, feel like I hear a lot is well, I'm too, I'm too old to do this or I'm too old to do that. And no, or it's too late to start something new. It's too late to start a new business. It's too late to learn how to do something. It's too late to start working out. Oh no.

[00:21:23] Um, just started a different level. Yeah. 

[00:21:26] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. The level and your, your goal may get to where you wanted it to be, but you won't know unless you started. Like, you don't know what you see is what your end result should be or where you, where you should be doing this. That makes sense. Yeah. Can't get there unless you start, show up and start.

[00:21:47] So 

[00:21:49] Penny Fitzgerald: that's so true of anything, 

[00:21:51] Tiana Ramirez: of anything. Yeah. Even not just ballroom dancing, but anything, but it's. It's tricky too with all of our options. We have so many [00:22:00] options nowadays. We have access to every, you know, access to so much information and it's like, well, maybe that's a overload too, but 

[00:22:07] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:22:09] There's um, a limited amount of time for everyone, you know, even the retirees that I. No, and our friends with and work with, um, they're going, going, going. 

[00:22:21] Tiana Ramirez: Oh, busy. So busy. They open up their day calendars and I'm like, Oh my gosh, what is in there? 

[00:22:29] Penny Fitzgerald: I 

[00:22:29] Tiana Ramirez: asked one 

[00:22:30] Penny Fitzgerald: of my friends the other day, I said, do you have any time blocked off for laundry for, I mean, just the day to day and she goes, no, yeah, she's running herself ragged, but.

[00:22:45] Um, 

[00:22:47] Tiana Ramirez: crazy. I think we have more time, but 

[00:22:49] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah, 

[00:22:50] Tiana Ramirez: we feel it rather quickly. 

[00:22:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes for sure. You know, lunches here and meetings there and um, yeah, whatever a lot of pickleball down here. 

[00:22:59] Tiana Ramirez: A lot of pickleball, [00:23:00] but we can add in ballroom dancing. 

[00:23:01] Penny Fitzgerald: That's right. I mean, it's two different things and they're both super fun.

[00:23:05] Tiana Ramirez: It was funny. We had a lot of pickleball players starting to come in and ballroom dance too. Yeah. Yeah, that's funny to say that was the start of last year. We had quite a few, it was like a group of ladies. I don't know if they all knew each other, but they were like, well, we all play pickleball. We just wanted to try something different.

[00:23:20] And I'm like, yeah. Okay.

[00:23:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, gosh. Okay. So what would you say to someone who, um, you know, maybe they liked to go out as a kid, as a, um, a younger person, maybe in college, they like to dance at the clubs or wherever, um, but they haven't for a while, like they've, you know, got on with life. What, what would you say to them? Like, For if they're feeling a little nervous about starting ballroom.

[00:23:49] Tiana Ramirez: There is nothing better than being in a gentleman's arms who knows how to make you feel like a lady. Wow. There is [00:24:00] nothing better. And it's more than just, like I said before, grabbing and just, there's something about the, you know, it's funny. Argentine tango was originally two men dancing together and they were fighting over a woman.

[00:24:14] Basically, so that's where the, the, some of the moves kind of come from, but then when it was switched to being more, you know, male, female, um, the, the ladies were more trying to call the gentleman in when they were sailing home. So they would kind of be at the docks and they would be like, you know, doing their moves and things.

[00:24:35] Um, there's obviously that masculine femininity that always is going to be there, whether it's same sex or not, it doesn't really matter, but there's always going to be a masculine feminine role. This is a true time when a, when a lady can be fully in her feminine. And this is a true time when a gentleman can be fully in his masculine.

[00:24:56] And it's when you're partner dancing. It doesn't necessarily have to be ballroom dancing because [00:25:00] there's so much more than ball. It's partner dancing. Two people dancing as one. It's not that, you know, he's always talking and I'm always listening. No, sometimes I'm talking as the partner and he's listening.

[00:25:14] So it's a true kind of, I don't know. There's just nothing better than that feeling. And I tell all of my gentlemen, how much power you have, you have. 

[00:25:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Use it wisely. 

[00:25:26] Tiana Ramirez: And, you know, there must be. I can't say from a gentleman's perspective, but being able to lead, cause I have to know the leading part. It's kind of cool when I'm in my masculine and I'm able to see someone fully in their feminine.

[00:25:41] I'm like, this is amazing. Cause I think that's just, it's in our makeup. I mean, look, I love my daughter. She is my best friend. She is my mini me. I will do anything for her, but my son, there's just something different about him and I think it's the whole, cause he's a boy and we have this. You know, it's the masculine, [00:26:00] feminine, it's not that I have a crush on him, but I just love that little boy.

[00:26:04] You know, it's like a, it's like a little, like a little mom crush with my daughter. It's, you know, we share obviously the same energies, we kind of want the same things because that's just how we're made 

[00:26:16] Penny Fitzgerald: up. Maybe that 

[00:26:17] Tiana Ramirez: sounds a little cuckoo, but 

[00:26:19] Penny Fitzgerald: no, that's, I think, I think you're going to hit home with a lot of moms.

[00:26:23] Tiana Ramirez: It's just, it's just to truly, you know, being, being your feminine in that moment. And well, 

[00:26:31] Penny Fitzgerald: I'm sorry to be, um, I was, it just reminded me of, um, a communication, like you're having a chat or a, a discussion with someone you love that you're giving and taking and listening and talking, you know, like you're giving and taking.

[00:26:51] Tiana Ramirez: You nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. It is nonverbal communication. We say that ballroom dancing is like [00:27:00] public speaking without using words. 

[00:27:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, yeah, 

[00:27:05] Tiana Ramirez: your body. 

[00:27:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh huh. Yeah. Well and I said with someone you love but when you're ballroom dancing It's not necessarily someone, you know, it could just be your dance instructor or your 

[00:27:15] Tiana Ramirez: right or somebody who shares a love for dance 

[00:27:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes, 

[00:27:20] Tiana Ramirez: so sometimes just that bond together that little connection together.

[00:27:24] I mean, we're sharing something that we both enjoy and There's obviously tons of studies about what music does and how it heals you inside out. And then when you apply the movement to the music and your movement as one, I could watch it all day. It's so 

[00:27:42] Penny Fitzgerald: beautiful. 

[00:27:43] Tiana Ramirez: I could dance it all day. But, uh, you know, I've been able to be, I've been able to dance all around the world.

[00:27:50] And one of the highlights was dancing in the, um, oh my gosh. I'm blanking. It's in Blackpool, the Empress [00:28:00] Ballroom, but I can't think of the name of the venue. Oh, the Winter Gardens. Excuse me. The Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. And Blackpool, England is not the best place to go. Oh, okay. Reminds me of like a super run A black 

[00:28:13] Penny Fitzgerald: pool?

[00:28:14] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah, yeah. Super rundown Vegas, but it's a little scary. You don't go out by yourself at night. But that is where ballroom dancing was. Really? The most beautiful, beautiful dances I've ever seen. Like the most, I just did watch 400 couples doing a waltz. 

[00:28:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. You know, it 

[00:28:40] Tiana Ramirez: brings tears to your eyes, goosebumps to your body.

[00:28:42] You just, you just start to invoke some of those feelings that you think that they're having. And that's what I think is really cool too, is we can kind of connect different, maybe, maybe even traumas. Who knows? 

[00:28:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, I can see that like you mentioned [00:29:00] ice dancing earlier. I love watching ice dance too. It's just so graceful.

[00:29:03] Tiana Ramirez: So beautiful. 

[00:29:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And when they're really when the couple is really in sync and like I'm in the Olympics when you watch it in the winter Olympics, it's just so. moving when the music is just perfect and they're, you know, they're moving with the music and it's just this emotional story that they're telling.

[00:29:27] Tiana Ramirez: Absolutely. And then sometimes that story can hit home directly to you. You know, at the end of the day, I feel like that's kind of my thing is I want, even if I wasn't in the Fred Astaire world and I was still dancing, I want what ballroom dancing does for me to do for everybody else. 

[00:29:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. Nice. 

[00:29:47] Tiana Ramirez: I want that feeling for everybody.

[00:29:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm hmm. 

[00:29:49] Tiana Ramirez: Because, you know, you can be anybody you want to be when you're dancing. You don't have to wear a shield. You don't have to, you don't have to do anything. You just, you can let it all out. [00:30:00] 

[00:30:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Yeah, I can see where that would be very powerful. 

[00:30:06] Tiana Ramirez: It's huge. Yeah. I've seen couples come together. I've seen people come back together.

[00:30:12] I've seen friendships and bonds that have formed in this studio. So it's really cool to see it go beyond just learning how to dance because you can learn how to dance on YouTube, but you don't have that personal one on one and that touch. You know, that is so important. Kind of funny, there was a TED Talks I listened to that said, in the Middle East, they would teach, I don't know exactly where it was, but they would teach kids that were kind of raised to, you know, maybe from two different parts of the Middle East, not necessarily get along very well, that they would ask, they would partner them up to dance.

[00:30:50] Because through the power of dance and touch, all of their prejudices and everything that they were taught went away. Oh wow. Went away. Went away for a [00:31:00] minute and maybe they separated and they kind of snapped back to it but there's something with the power obviously of touch and then to move together so it's really fascinating it just doesn't stop like some of the benefits behind dancing.

[00:31:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:31:18] Tiana Ramirez: I 

[00:31:18] Penny Fitzgerald: just feel like some of those, the prejudices and the, um, preconceived notions that we have as someone else, it's because we don't know that someone else, we don't know what their struggles are. We don't know what they're thinking, what they're feeling, how they were raised, all of that, you know, and when you get to know someone that's different than you, suddenly they're not that different.

[00:31:39] Tiana Ramirez: No, 

[00:31:40] Penny Fitzgerald: which 

[00:31:41] Tiana Ramirez: is fantastic. 

[00:31:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And especially, yeah, I can see with touch, especially yours, it's really hard to be angry with someone when you're touching. 

[00:31:51] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. You're in my personal space, but we've broken a barrier. Yeah. Wow. That's why we always say too, and I'm really big on [00:32:00] that and. Just going back to the whole chivalry thing behind Barton partnership dancing, you know, before I would do put my hands on anybody.

[00:32:07] I asked for permission and oh, yeah, sometimes see the, you know, the nerves, but the minute kind of do that. They just kind of like their shoulders release a little bit more and they feel like, okay. You're here to help me, not against me, 

[00:32:23] Penny Fitzgerald: right? You're not going to make fun of me when I step the wrong direction.

[00:32:30] Tiana Ramirez: I've stepped every direction, but the right way. Oh 

[00:32:35] Penny Fitzgerald: gosh. Okay. So, um, do you guys do, you do competitions too, right? Like you, you take your students into other competitions. How does that work? 

[00:32:44] Tiana Ramirez: So if you wanted to, you could compete in ballroom dancing every weekend. 

[00:32:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:32:51] Tiana Ramirez: There's somewhere in the US that is holding a ballroom dance event or a competition.

[00:32:57] So I like to say, like, if you're taking tennis lessons [00:33:00] and you never play in a match, how do you know how good you are? Maybe it's not about being how good you are, but what's kind of the end result for Um, taking tennis lessons or golf lessons is to kind of do a tournament or a match now. It doesn't have to be a Competition with ballroom dancing you could do a show or you could do Even pushing yourself to that highest level of learning Your social dancing becomes like no brainer because you've trained at the highest level.

[00:33:37] So then to be able to say, okay, I'm just going to do this socially and for fun, which it always is there too, that becomes way easier and it becomes more natural than trying to start with doing that. So I know it sounds a little backwards, but, um, it's something that we offer. Within the studio. And I know most ballroom studios do the same thing.

[00:33:59] And it's [00:34:00] just kind of like icing on the cake. There's another option within your dancing. If your goal is to only go out and dance at Madison's on a Friday night, then you're going to get that goal here. If your goal is to become a United States champion. And you give us the chance, you're going to get that goal here.

[00:34:17] Wow. And if your goal is just to go out and meet people and, and feel more confident about yourself because you can through not speaking and moving, you're going to get that here. We offer a little bit of everything, you know, the competition side of it. Some people really do dive into it. You know, they like the performing, they like the dresses, they like the idea, the challenge, you know, people that come from a sports background, a lot of times are, are gravitating towards that journey.

[00:34:45] And that's the most beautiful thing. Everybody's dance journey is different. We may cross paths at some point. And say, this really isn't for me, but hey, you don't know if you like Escargot unless you try it. So don't tell me you don't like it because you haven't [00:35:00] tried it. 

[00:35:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Don't look at it and then turn up your nose because yeah, it's,

[00:35:07] wow. 

[00:35:08] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. There's, like I said, every weekend you could go out and ballroom dance, which is really cool. If you want it to be on the competitive level. 

[00:35:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow, 

[00:35:17] Tiana Ramirez: I'm sorry. 

[00:35:17] Penny Fitzgerald: I was just going to ask, can someone from the general public just go watch some of these things? 

[00:35:23] Tiana Ramirez: Absolutely. And sometimes that's what will spark somebody's full interest to seeing it at that level.

[00:35:30] And, you know, I say at that level, it's not like it's. The end, I'll be all you could partnership dance for two months and go into an event and compete Because you'll always be your age your age your dance level. It's all broken down that way So it's not all you're gonna become here. I am 38 competing against the the juniors.

[00:35:51] The 12 year olds doesn't work that way It's all separated by age And level. Just like in any other competitive sport, [00:36:00] uh, you know, it's just separated that way. So yeah, the general public, absolutely. The more the merrier because dancers feed off of energy. So the more people that are watching, 

[00:36:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, cool.

[00:36:10] Tiana Ramirez: They feed off of. 

[00:36:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. It's like a performance. 

[00:36:13] Tiana Ramirez: Oh, always, always. Absolutely. 

[00:36:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. Okay. So how would someone learn about. You know, like what's happening, the events that are happening so they could go check it out. 

[00:36:23] Tiana Ramirez: Absolutely. So our Facebook page, um, FADSSarasota, same thing at our Instagram at @FADSSarasota.

[00:36:29] We try to be really good at getting all that out there. Um, our website too, https://www.fredastaire.com/sarasota/. We'll give a rundown of some of our events. Um, I wonder if there's like a way to kind of get more in the newspapers and let people know, because we're hosting an event in August at the Ritz. Oh, wow.

[00:36:47] And there's another really big event at the Van Wazel. 

[00:36:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. Those are big venues. 

[00:36:53] Tiana Ramirez: So, yeah, it's just, it's, you know, it's. I mean, who can say that they dance on the same stage as Justin [00:37:00] Timberlake, if he came in. You know, it was really fun. It's pretty cool. Um, so yeah, any one of our social media outlets or just a regular, um, good old website works too.

[00:37:10] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Okay, cool. Well now put those, um, links in my show notes so people can find you easier and in the newsletter that I send out. So, but fad is just Fred Astaire dance, right? The first letters of that. 

[00:37:21] Tiana Ramirez: Okay. Yep. I think it's okay. So Fred Astaire dance studios. 

[00:37:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Bye. Bye. Cool. Wow. That's really exciting.

[00:37:29] I think, um, you know, just all the benefits that you get from dancing and from the social part of it too, is just really cool there. The night that Jeff and I went, um, there were a lot of, uh, new people who were just checking it out and some dancers that have been at your studio for a while. And you could just see the ones who have been dancing for a while, they just light up.

[00:37:54] about it. They love it. It, it's something fun for them to do together as a couple. [00:38:00] And then some were there as singles. You don't have to be a couple, right? 

[00:38:05] Tiana Ramirez: Nope. We have very qualified instructors that, um, will partner with any singles. And then additionally we'll partner with the couples. So you're never alone.

[00:38:15] You're never kind of coming in here dancing by yourself. Yeah. Um, that was very 

[00:38:19] Penny Fitzgerald: helpful. 

[00:38:21] Tiana Ramirez: We have a lot, excuse me, we have a lot of couples who. Take lessons separately to or it's more for the lady or sometimes it's more for the gentleman. So we always have partners for everybody 

[00:38:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. Yeah, that's very cool.

[00:38:38] Okay. So Tiana, I always bring around my podcast at the end to ask something fun while we've been talking about a lot of fun things already, but this is different. So what's your favorite cocktail or glass of wine? What do you like to drink? I 

[00:38:56] Tiana Ramirez: am a sangria girl all the way. Oh, [00:39:00] sangria. All the way, white, red, rosé, don't matter.

[00:39:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow! 

[00:39:04] Tiana Ramirez: Make my own sangria. 

[00:39:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, can you share your recipe or is it a family secret? 

[00:39:09] Tiana Ramirez: Well, it's not like, it changes every time I do it. So I think a staple for me is always Grand Marnier. Yeah. Cinnamon. I like a little bit of like, crayon and grape juice. And then from there, I'll probably use like some um, flavor liqueurs.

[00:39:26] It depends if I'm going more blackberry, then I'll go with a blackberry liqueur. If I'm going more apple, then I'll go with like an apple liqueur.

[00:39:36] And then I would say my base alcohol, that jumps too. Sometimes it's vodka, sometimes it's rum, but I always use Grand Marnier and I let it sit for like a day. A ton of fruit. They just eat the fruit and you're like, Oh, this is great. We have sangria all the way. 

[00:39:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, yummy. 

[00:39:59] Tiana Ramirez: That [00:40:00] sounds delicious. And I think it's good when it's cold outside, when it's hot outside, it just fits everything.

[00:40:05] Penny Fitzgerald: It does fit. It's very, um, versatile, very refreshing. Fits with tango. It 

[00:40:15] Tiana Ramirez: does. Absolutely. 

[00:40:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, I love it. Okay. So what's a favorite memory sipping sangria with some friends? Um, 

[00:40:25] Tiana Ramirez: probably when we did a swap party and we were like a swap party, like we had to swap the genders and we were superheroes. So like I was Captain America and then like my significant other at the time was Wonder Woman.

[00:40:44] Oh, and we made a, we had a big sangria party. It just, I don't know. You just said it and it came to my mind. 

[00:40:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, gosh, that's fun. I wasn't sure where you were going with that. I 

[00:40:52] Tiana Ramirez: know. When I first said it, I was like, wow, this isn't right. Let 

[00:40:55] Penny Fitzgerald: me explain. 

[00:40:58] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah, it was just fun. We were all different [00:41:00] superheroes and we just switched out the gender of the superhero.

[00:41:04] Oh, fun. Was this like for Halloween? No, it was probably just because it was Friday. 

[00:41:08] Penny Fitzgerald: Just because. Okay. I like that. Just have a party. And 

[00:41:13] Tiana Ramirez: it was about a Gatorade sized, Gatorade giant sized thing of bakery with a big stirrer in it. Yep, yep. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that was good. Oh, fun. 

[00:41:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. Okay. Do you have any pictures from that?

[00:41:28] I don't 

[00:41:28] Tiana Ramirez: actually, you know, I think there would be on my space, but I can't access. Oh, 

[00:41:32] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. My space is kind of not a thing anymore, right? 

[00:41:35] Tiana Ramirez: My password, but I miss having your top five, your top five. 

[00:41:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, gosh. Yeah. I was never a my space girl. I started right with Facebook and stuck with that. 

[00:41:48] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. I took a while to go into Facebook, but yeah, my space, maybe like a top five.

[00:41:53] And then you could design your own page. So of course you could have your picture on it or Singaria on it, and then you could put [00:42:00] music on your page. So like this whole presentation, every time you loaded the page. 

[00:42:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So it was kind of like your personality showing 

[00:42:08] Tiana Ramirez: on your 

[00:42:09] Penny Fitzgerald: page. Wow. That sounds kind of cool.

[00:42:11] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah. And then you chose your top five instead of. Facebook choosing your time. Oh, 

[00:42:16] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. Wow. 

[00:42:18] Tiana Ramirez: Yeah, that. Yeah, that 

[00:42:19] Penny Fitzgerald: sounds better. 

[00:42:20] Tiana Ramirez: It's different, but I can't access that, but I think there are some photos in there. 

[00:42:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Darn. Yeah, I would share those, but that sounds fun though. Yeah. And just to have a party just to have a party.

[00:42:34] Tiana Ramirez: Yep. Just get those. Why not? Why 

[00:42:36] Penny Fitzgerald: not?

[00:42:40] Why not? Exactly. Okay. So is there anything that I have not asked you that you would love to share? 

[00:42:50] Tiana Ramirez: I don't think so. Um, just go out there and do it. 

[00:42:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, exactly. Let's do that. 

[00:42:59] Tiana Ramirez: Whatever [00:43:00] it is, let's do it. 

[00:43:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Whatever you've been having, whatever dream you have, if you've got even a little spark, go chase it, go see what it's, what it's about.

[00:43:10] You'll never know if it's for you or not, if you don't try it. 

[00:43:12] Tiana Ramirez: Absolutely. 

[00:43:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. Oh, Tiana, this has been so fun. 

[00:43:18] Tiana Ramirez: Me too. Thank you. This is 

[00:43:20] Penny Fitzgerald: awesome. Thank you. Yeah, it was great chatting with you and I'll, I'll um, Excuse me, I'll put all these links and stuff in my show notes so that people can find you and check it out and look for your events and just take a look and yeah, try it, try it for yourself and see if you like it.

[00:43:37] Tiana Ramirez: We're always happy around here. So if you want to see some happy folks, we can do it for you. 

[00:43:41] Penny Fitzgerald: That was what, okay. So that one, that was what my friend who invited me to your event, um, said, you know, even if you don't like ballroom dancing, these people are so, these are the happiest people I've ever met.

[00:43:54] Tiana Ramirez: Maybe, like, I say we're in our own Disney World, constantly. Like, we are in our [00:44:00] own Disneyland. Like, when the pandemic was happening, we had no clue, because we were in our own bubble. 

[00:44:05] Penny Fitzgerald: You had your We 

[00:44:06] Tiana Ramirez: do, but, you know, we, you just kind of block everything out. You're not. You 

[00:44:10] Penny Fitzgerald: tribe. 

[00:44:11] Tiana Ramirez: You're not thinking about the laundry, the groceries, the this, the that, because you're so in this world of music, and dance, and movement, and passing energies back and forth to each other.

[00:44:24] Wow. You just, 

[00:44:27] Penny Fitzgerald: you don't know 

[00:44:27] Tiana Ramirez: what's going on. 

[00:44:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Sometimes. Good energy. Yeah. 

[00:44:30] Tiana Ramirez: It's great. 

[00:44:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. What, yeah, all good vibes all around. 

[00:44:36] Tiana Ramirez: All the time. 

[00:44:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, I love it. Thank you so much, Tiana. No, thank you. This was fabulous. Well, have a great rest of your day. 

[00:44:46] Tiana Ramirez: You too. 

[00:44:47] Penny Fitzgerald: All right. 

[00:44:47] Tiana Ramirez: Bye. Bye. [00:45:00]