Faculty & Staff
Ryan Justus
Owner & Director
jazz | lyrical | ballet | Musical Theatre | Competition Companies
Starting dance at Dance/10 as a Pre-teen (over 30 years ago), Ryan grew up competing at numerous regional and national competitions. Along the way he won many awards, including Teen Mr. Dance of California, Dance Masters-Chapter 13, and receive many opportunities to participate in industrials, which encouraged him to pursue a career in the performing arts. Now as an adult, Ryan has been performing, teaching, choreographing and judging competitions and pageants. He has a strong technical background in all major dance forms specifically Jazz and Lyrical (with an emphasis on musicality) and Musical Theater. After 30+ years of dance, Ryan continues to study tap, ballet, and singing weekly for personal development. With a BA in Dramatic Arts from University of California-Berkeley, an MA in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University, an MA in Teaching and a certificate in Applied Shakespeare from the University of Colorado, Boulder, he brings with him a wealth of knowledge about extending dance beyond movement and into an expression of emotion and character that connects with the audience. Ryan works with children from the age of 4 all the way up to adults and continues to produce award winning solo and group choreography.
He has been a member of The Tap Dancing Christmas Trees for over 25 years. His professional credits include: Industrial shows for Yelp, Bank of America, Zantac 75 & Comcast. Stage performances include: American Gospel Music Awards (featured dancer) and Old Souls, New Shoes. Parade performances include: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in NYC six times, Hollywood Holiday Parade, America’s Children’s Parade, & Palm Springs Festival of Lights. One-man show: ProjectRyRy (2024).
Recent choreography credits include high school musicals for local high schools – Footloose (2016), Carrie (2016), Dogfight (2017), A Chorus Line (2017), Pitch Perfect (2018), Heathers (2018), Ranked (2022), Oklahoma! (2023). He has been on faculty for the Professional Dance Network for the past 10 years. Ryan is also a member of the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus.
Ryan is certified with Dance Masters of America in the following subjects: Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Modern, and Acrobatics. He is also the Past President and treasure of Dance Masters of California, Chapter 13.