Dimitri Petrides (August 1912 in Cyprus – 1985 in Blackpool) was a ballroom dancer who was instrumental in pioneering and developing Latin American dancing in England and later globally.
He was one of the founding members of the Latin-American Faculty of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, and wrote the first English textbook on the subject ('The Latin American Technique' (1949)).
[1] This small band of dedicated specialists worked hard to establish an examination system and syllabus for both amateur and professional dancers and in 1951 the Latin and American Dancing section was transformed into a formal branch of the ISTD.
Of this book the General Secretary of the ISTD, H. Vivian Davies said: Petrides had been introduced to Walshe by Josephine Bradley, one of the greats of Ballroom dancing whom he met shortly after the War.
Bradley suggested that Petrides and Walshe might partner up: they were Britain's first Latin American champions, winning many of the earliest competitions before going on to build on their success and become popular as demonstrators, lecturers, coaches and judges.