Joan Bartoletti

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 Dance FX founder Joan Bartoletti hails from Detroit and has spent most of her adult life in Sunrise, Fla., where she started Dance FX more than 25 years ago. Bartoletti got her training at Ricardeau's in Detroit. Prior to her move south, she performed at the pre-show at the State Fair, as well as various tradeshows and conventions. With 55 years of dance under her belt, Bartoletti favors tap above all of the styles of dance. In fact, she couldn't do without her tap shoes. Bartoletti can most often be found teaching ages 3-8 in ballet, tap, jazz and creative dance. She counts among her biggest accomplishments starting the Central Park Dancers, opening Dance FX and training So You Think You Can Dance runner-up Tiffany Maher. Bartoletti's dance role model is Gene Kelly. When asked, "Why dance?" Bartoletti's response is: "Why not? What a way to be free!"