About Ruby

I left circus training to join the world of social dance in 2000. In 2001, I saw Frankie Manning tell the story of the battle of the bands between Chick Webb and Benny Goodman and his performance of the first air-steps. It was then that I realized that Swing Dance would last me for the rest of my life. After all, Frankie was 89 at the time and still going strong! During that fateful year, I immersed myself in dance classes, at one point taking 9 dance classes a week, including ballroom, latin, swing, break-dancing and tap.

Through Swing dancing I was invited to an an underground blues dance party. By 2005 I was teaching and DJing at the first iterations of Friday Night Blues in San Francisco. Since then I've traveled the US and to the UK to teach, DJ and share my love of Blues and Swing with other dancers. Now based in Chicago, I help run Bluetopia, Chicago's monthly blues dance, and continue to travel to other cities to connect, collaborate and bring inspiration back to my community.

Not only a continual student of dance, I'm also a certified massage therapist and have studied other movement forms including Kung Fu, T'ai Chi and Iyengar Yoga.

    Awards, Competitions & Performances

  • 2010 April: First place, Solo Blues Cuttin' Contest & Second Place, Juke Joint Strictly with John Joven at BluesShout in Austin.
  • 2010 March: First place in Jack & Jill (as a lead) with Lisa Paladin at Steel City Blues Festival, in Pittsburgh.
  • 2010 February: Third place in Jack & Jill with Paul Mandel at Sweet Molasses Blues in Boston.
  • 2010 February: Northeast Girljam, performed in "Skirts and Skins" - a solo jazz piece choreographed by Mike Leggett, starring Joy Arico, Julie Brown, Kara Fabina, Mike and Ruby.
  • 2009 November: First place, Solo Blues Competition at Emerald City Blues in Seattle
  • 2009 October: First place in Jack & Jill with Dan Rosenthal at Blues Muse in Philadelphia
  • 2009 October: Voted dancer's choice at Blues Muse for "Most Amusing Lead"
  • 2009 May: Third place in the Strictly Ballroomin' division with John Joven at BluesShout in Chicago
  • 2008 November: Second place in Jack & Jill with Chris Mayer at Emerald City Blues Festival in Seattle
  • 2008 June: Debut Performance of the "Lil' Smokies," a Jazz and Blues dance troupe at Down Home BluesShout in San Francisco. Group members included Aimee LeMaster and Rachel Singer for a smokin' hot performance of When The Lights Go Out by The Black Keys
  • 2008 January: Began training with Breakbone Dance Company
  • 2007 Second place, Jack & Jill with Stryder Crown at Denver Blues Summit
  • 2007 Jack & Jill Finalist with "Chocolate" Jeff Washington at Blues-Shout in St. Louis.
  • 2007 Blues Rising in San Francisco: Jack & Jill Finalist
  • 2003 Member of SFBounce a flying Lindy-Hop Troupe
  • 2003 member of Hot Pink Feathers, a Samba Burlesque troupe
  • 2003 member of the Oaktown Alligators, a Balboa troupe coached by international champions, Steve Garrett and Heidi Salerno
  • 1998 Choreographer and Performer in Miss Ooh La La's Cabaret, with choreographer, Krista DeNio
  • 1995-1998 Regular Cabaret performer at "In Bed with Fairy Butch"

    • Teaching/Organizing Experience

  • 2010 June: Co-organized, CUBE: the Chicago Underground Blues Experience, an annual Blues weekend.
  • 2010 January-June: Taught monthly workshops in Chicago (with John Joven) for beginning and intermediate dancers.
  • 2010 January: Guest instructor (with Ruth Hoffman) and DJ at Shades of Blues in San Francisco
  • 2010 January: Guest instructor (with Tim O'Neil and Whitton Frank) at Blues Kitchen in Los Angeles
  • 2010 January: Taught "Fox-Blues" with Lucky Skillen at San Diego Fusion Exchange
  • 2009: Offered weekly classes and monthly workshops in Chicago.
  • 2008-2009 December-February: 3-month stint at Friday Night Blues as Operations Manager, Teacher and DJ
  • 2008 September: Bluetopia, Chicago's Monthly Blues Dance launches. Offer monthly intro classes and manage DJs.
  • 2008 April: Began offering intermediate and beginning classes in Blues Dance in Chicago
  • 2008 February-March: Five week teaching and performance tour in the UK for Ceroc with Lucky Skillen, teaching at Utopia, Swish, Storm and two specialist workshops focusing on Blues and Tango
  • 2007 September-November: Seven-week teaching and performing tour in England and Scotland with Lucky Skillen, teaching BLues and Swing for Ceroc, the international Modern Jive Organization. We taught at Bliss, Breeze, Blaze and Splash as well as two specialist workshops!
  • 2007 Attended the "Get Together" in Philadelphia - a dance retreat for instructors, hosted by Andrew Sutton, Brenda Collins and Friday Night Blues founder, Mihai Banlescu
  • 2007 continued coordination of CUBE 07
  • 2006 co-created the first CUBE (Chicago Underground Blues Experience), a week-end of social dance focused around the Chicago Blues Festival
  • 2005 moved to Chicago, formed ChicagoSwingPractica - a regular Swing and Blues practice night
  • 2005 member of Friday Night Blues Council, regular instructor and DJ for Friday Night Blues
  • 2001 President of San Francisco City College's West Coast Swing dance Club and member of its performance troupe
  • 1999-2000 Student at San Francisco School of Circus Arts, trained in Trapeze and Silk.
  • 1996-1998 Student at American Chinese Martial Arts Academy, including a year in the instructor training program.

2007 All Rights Reserved by Ruby-Red Designs. Unless otherwise, noted photos by Rich Chang.