Ruth Balestra

Education

• 1990 

  B.A., Speech Communications, minor in Dance
  Youngstown State University
   

About

Ruth Balestra is a part-time dance faculty member at Youngstown State University's Cliffe College of Creative Arts. At YSU she has taught Jazz 1 and 2, Tap 1 and 2, Advanced Modern Dance, Survey of Dance, Musical Comedy, and she also guided students in their Senior Dance Projects.

Balestra attended her first dance lesson at the age of 10 and received her technical dance training collectively between Kent State University and Youngstown State University (YSU). She received her B.A. in Speech Communications with a minor in Theater in 1990. Balestra studied the bulk of her dance classes at Kent State University and was a dance intern at YSU. After consulting with her YSU advisor during that time, she became the first student to receive a minor in dance at YSU through the dance classes she had taken from both universities.

Balestra is the director and owner of Ruth’s Dance and Fitness Co. LLC, which she has owned and operated for the last 35 years. Her areas of specialty include pointe, classical ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and musical theater. Over the past 35 years she has used these areas to create innovative choreography in her dance productions. She is most noted for her choreography of Broadway musicals and famous ballets to create artistry on the stage. Students of all ages have been taught in her shows to perform choreography, act, and pantomime to the soundtracks of the following musicals: The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella,Broadway's The Little Mermaid, Lord of The Dance, Wicked, Tangled, Jersey Boys, Newsies, Swan Lake, An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Aida, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Greatest Showman, Music to Inspire Our Youth, Seussical - The Musical, A Tribute to Music Legends, Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty,Delibes' Coppelia, The Drive In,a compilation of choreography from televised musicals, and this past spring, Balestra choreographed a Bee Gee's Tributeand Highlights from Frozen.

Balestra's Dance Co. LLC was chosen to be the host school for The Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcrackerin 2007, 2016, and 2018. The Great Russian Nutcrackergave Balestra the opportunity to teach her students 12 excerpts of choreography from the Nutcracker.The students performed the choreography with the Moscow Ballet members on stage at the DeYor Performing Arts Center in Youngstown during the holiday season.

In December of 2017, Balestra's Dance Co. was chosen to perform in the halftime show at the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Florida. In 2012, the company was chosen to perform the halftime show at the Orange Bowl in Miami.  Between November of 2010 and June of 2018, Balestra and her students attended The Beginnings Workshop in New York City, where Broadway professionals coached several of her students to act, sing, and dance. The workshop culminated in an off-Broadway performance in New York City in front of Broadway directors and producers.

Balestra served as President of the YSU Dance Ensemble between 1988 to 1990. She also performed in the same ensemble as well as in YSU theater productions. Balestra is also a former choreographer for the Youngstown Playhouse, where she choreographed several musicals. She is also a former choreographer for the Struthers Show Choir and several high school dance lines. Balestra's primary goal when teaching dance is to teach technique and flexibility, with particular attention to proper alignment and safety awareness.

As a side note, Balestra also teaches sculpt and stretch classes at her studio. Over the past 35 years she has received several fitness certifications, including group exercise certifications through the National Exercise Trainers Association, the Athletics and Fitness Association of America, the American Aerobics Association, and International Sports Medicine. She received continuing education at several workshops through the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy and the IDEA Health & Fitness Association in Chicago and Los Angeles to further enhance her knowledge in the field. She has also taught group exercise at several assisted living care centers in the area, including The Inn at Poland Way, The Inn at Ironwood, The Inn at Glen Ellen, The Inn at the Commons, Brierfield Manor, The Addison of Cornersburg, Marian Living Center, and Meridian Arms.