About Ruby

Solo Blues Competition, BluesShout! 2012

A lifelong student of movement, I studied ballet at the San Francisco Ballet, modern dance at Mills College, music production at Mills’ Center for Contemporary Music and eventually trained in San Francisco to be a Master Bodyworker in a variety of modalities. After exploring Trapeze and Silks at San Francisco’s Circus Center, performing Burlesque in underground clubs and training in the instructor program at the American Chinese Martial Arts Federation I discovered the world of social dance at the San Francisco Community College in the year 2000. After exploring the Ballroom Dances, Argentine Tango, West Coast Swing and Salsa, I had the fortune of attending a Frankie Manning workshop in 2001 where he told 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!

Through Swing dancing I was invited to an an underground blues dance party and 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. I continue to study other movement styles, yoga, and strength training to bolster my movement awareness. Now based in Chicago, I’ve worked to foster the blues community here through the creation of Bluetopia (Chicago’s monthly blues dance) as well as the Chicago Underground Blues Experience, Chicago’s annual celebration of Blues fest. I continue to travel to other cities to connect, collaborate and bring inspiration back to my community.

Teaching Solo Cutting & Riffing in Glasgow Scotland, 2013