Street dancer enjoys stepping into spotlight

October 21, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

B-boying street dancer Jose Ruiz may have been the outsider on the seventh season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” but the 22-year-old Miami native has no regrets — especially when considering he never really wanted to be on the show in the first place.

“I never had a desire to get on the show. It was really one of my friends that suggested I should try out, so I finally took his advice,” said Ruiz, calling from Atlanta. “I’m just a street dancer. I used to compete in street dancing, and that’s basically what I did and how I made my money. I never really thought I’d reach this point like getting on the show. It’s really out of left field. I never really expected any of this.

“I still really don’t know why they picked me. I guess it’s like I was the most skilled b-boy in a sense when it really comes to breaking. They just saw something in me. I guess they saw a spark or something. I really can’t explain why. I still ask myself today why I’m still here.”

Where Ruiz is now is on the national “So You Think You Can Dance,” which comes to Pittsburgh on Friday at the CONSOL Energy Center. The dancer line-up includes a mix of Season 7 contestants (Ad chik , Ashley, Billy, Jose, Kent, Lauren, Robert), all-stars (Ade, Allison, Courtney, Dominic and Kathryn) and Season 6 winner Russell.

Life these days for Ruiz is quite different. His street competitions, think Eminem movie “8 Mile” only dancing instead of rapping, took place all over the states. He even traveled to Canada and Paris. Despite his success, when it came to “So You Think You Can Dance,” he was facing contestants schooled in more conventional styles. So did Ruiz, who made it to the top 6 before being eliminated, feel like an outsider?

“No, I didn’t feel left out,” Ruiz said. “Everyone was really welcoming and really nice, and I learned a lot from all of the other dancers. They really appreciated my style of dancing, and I appreciated theirs. I never felt like an outsider. Of course picking up choreography, I wasn’t the best at it and probably slower than most of the people, but other than that, it was a very welcoming feeling. It opened my mind a lot.”

Looking to the future, Ruiz is humble with his aspirations.

“My ultimate goal I guess is just to keep living and keep dancing,” Ruiz said. “I’m getting into acting too. But I’m still going to be competing and dancing and battling even after all of this is over.”

Finally, when Ruiz is asked what he would change if he could go back and redo any dance performances from this past season, you see exactly how grounded he remains despite the glaring spotlight of fame.

“They were all good,” Ruiz said. “Everything happens as it happens. Of course there are routines that you feel like I could have done better, but I never wish to go back and do it over again because that would plug in that there’s regret, and I have no regrets coming off the show. I don’t regret anything I did.

“Just think, I started dancing in my garage for fun, and I never thought I would get to showcase my style and creativity to my masses. That’s been my favorite part about the entire experience.”