The Instructors

Ruth graduated with a BFA from Youngstown State University in Communications and Theater and studied dance collectively at Youngstown State and Kent State University, where she graduated with a minor in dance. 

Ruth is a part-time dance faculty member at Youngstown State University’s Cliff College of Creative Arts. Her areas of specialty include pointe, classical ballet, jazz and modern, and she has used these forms of dance to create innovative choreography for musical theater and ballet venues at her studio over the last thirty-three years. Ruth served as President of the YSU Dance Ensemble, and she also performed in several YSU theater productions. At Kent State University, Ruth studied Horton and Jose Lemon modern dance techniques, ballet and improvisation.

In 2018, 2016 and 2007, Ruth’s Dance & Fitness Co. LLC was chosen to be the host school for The Moscow Ballet’s “The Great Russian Nutcracker.” These performances gave students an opportunity to dance with a professional ballet company.

In 2017, Ruth’s Senior and Junior dance students were chosen to perform at the Camping World Bowl in Orlando Florida. While there, students had the opportunity to perform in the parade at Universal Studios. In 2012, Ruth’s students were chosen to perform at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Between 2010 and 2019, several of her students were chosen to attend “The Beginnings Workshops” in NYC, where Broadway professionals worked with students in acting, singing and dance. The workshop culminated in an off-Broadway performance in New York City in front of Broadway directors and producers. In 2007, Ruth’s senior dance students danced at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

Over the last 15 years, Ruth has taught students of all ages to dance, act and sing to the soundtracks of a variety of popular musicals. She is a former choreographer for the Struthers Show Choir and several high school dance lines. She is a certified group exercise instructor through NETA and offers body strengthening classes at her studio. Ruth also teaches chair exercise classes at several assisted living centers in the Youngstown area.

Breeze Stec: Breeze plays a key role in assisting Ruth with her Children’s Ballet classes. She has been teaching with Ruth for the last 10 years. She also helps teach the Junior level Ballet and Junior level jazz dance classes. Breeze has studied dance with Ruth for 15 years. Breeze played the lead dance role as “Charity Barnum”, in Ruth’s dance production of “The Greatest Showman” in 2019. In Nov. of 2016 and Dec. of 2018, Breeze was chosen to dance the “Chinese Dance”, with The Moscow Ballet’s principal dancers in “The Great Russian Nutcracker”. Breeze also performed with The Moscow Ballet as a “Snowflake” when she was a child In Dec. of 2007. In the Fall 2018, Breeze attended “The Beginnings Workshop” in New York. While she was there, she worked with professional cast members, producers, and directors from Broadway and Hollywood where she studied classes in acting, singing, and dancing. The workshop ended with a performance off Broadway where she performed a monologue at the Orpheum Theater. Breeze graduated from Poland Seminary High School in 2019 and is a recent graduate from YSU with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. She is currently working as an intern at APTIV, in addition to teaching dance at Ruth’s Dance and Fitness Co. LLC