Latin Connection Dance

My wife and I had the pleasure of working with Ruth for the first dance at our wedding. Neither of us are dancers, but we had our hearts set on a special song. We had never even heard of a Viennese waltz let alone knew how to dance it. Ruth was extremely kind and patient with us, and helped us create a routine at our skill level, listening to our feedback and suggestions all the way. In addition to that, she was flexible with our packed schedule that comes with a month before a wedding. The dance ended up a hit and we got a ton of compliments! Ruth, thank you so much from the both of us!

I've been attending Ruth's salsa classes for about 4-5 months. Ruth is an outstanding teacher and Latin dancer. A key part of teaching a physical skill is to remind the student as many times as needed what they need to change until they integrate the new idea/movement/whatever. Ruth is excellent at holding out until you get the right idea. Then she moves you right along to whatever you need to do next. Ruth is also super perceptive - She quickly sees exactly what trouble a student is having and then clearly and kindly guides you towards the necessary improvement. I'm impressed by her ability to help people at widely varying levels by giving each person what they need - even though her suggestions are different for each person. Ruth is also friendly, fun and positive. I always feel welcome and encouraged at her class. I highly recommend Ruth to anyone wanting to learn Latin dance.

My girlfriend and have been taking private lessons for a couple of months, we started from scratch.. Ruth, has shown us the basics and we are now doing turns and learning to choreograph are dance moves.. Ruth is an excellent instructor, very patient and thorough on explaining plus breaking down each part of the move.. A bonus is that Ruth is a beautiful person with a great personality.. We're very happy to have Ruth as our instructor.. Cha cha cha n Batchata are next.. Highly recommend classes..

Ruth gave me a beginners private lesson last night. I went from having 2 left feet to feeling confident enough to dance in public... well, not yet but soon - I'm still practicing what she showed me. Thanks Ruth for your patience and skill as a teacher, and your enthusiastic personality too.

I took Ruth's Bridge class just this past summer and she was amazing! I had already taken a Latin dance course at my school before but I didn't really learn how to fine tune my fundamentals such as my basic and cross body lead. Under Ruth's instruction I was able to really get more "freestyle" confidence that us guys need when leading ladies on the dance floor. You gotta keep em guessing what you're going to do next! I highly recommend taking any class from Ruth as her instruction is crisp and clear every time.

I've had a lot of dance experience with many dance teachers, but Ruth is hands-down the best dance teacher I've ever had. She is really good at teaching you to your level -- and is able to address different student levels in a single class. She really takes the time to make sure you understand the correct form and body placement, but at the same time, makes learning different dance moves a lot of fun.Since taking lessons from Ruth, I understand the technique of the dance in a deeper way -- and find it easy to incorporate on the dance floor. She was a wonderful instructor and I look forward to taking more dance classes with her again in the near future!

Ruth was great and gave us a couple's lesson in our home. She was patient but also focused and had a great, adaptive agenda, given our skill set, which she quickly assessed after watching us. She brought her own music and worked with the confines of our space and was very prompt--even a bit early!--which we really appreciated. Will definitely use her classes again and would recommend!

I Met Ruth at one of the Berkley Sunday Street parties. She was very nice and personable. We started conversing about the challenges I had learning how to dance Salsa. She told me about the bridge between beginner and intermediate classes she was designing. The answer to the problem I was having. Intermediate class are usually to fast paced for me. I have attended her classes and they are very easily to follow. She pays close attention to her students and stops periodically to offer the students an opportunity to ask a question. She is an amazing teacher that helped me break through my dance rut!

Ruth is an amazing dancer, teacher and person. She always gives one hundred percent in everything that she does. I didn't feel that I could learn to dance but she gave excellent instruction to me as a newcomer. She is also a real community person. I have seen photos of festivals where she has donated her time and energy to get people out in the streets...dancing and enjoying themselves. She is a real credit to Oakland. Try her dance classes, I am glad that I did.

Ruth is a great teacher! I took her beginning salsa class and loved it - she is very patient and explains all of the steps thoroughly. I really enjoyed the class and can't wait to take her bridge class!