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Ava Apple

@avaapple_dance

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Award winning Dance instructor, performer, competitor. Specializing in Salsa, Latin Hustle, & "First Dance" choreography. Classes & private lessons

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Just reminiscing a bit… 👌🏼😄 #nyhustle #internationalhustleandsalsa #nylatinhustle #hustlecompetition #avaapple by @avaapple_dance

Those that know me know I am not prone to bragging, but I am proud of this team, and the routine that they hired me to create for them. This performance was after the afternoon competition where they took ⭐️GOLD🏆 in the formation team category at the 2026 Gay Games in Valencia, Spain. They worked very hard for over six months, and after the competition they were invited to perform the routine again at that nights gala celebration. This routine incorporates NY Latin Hustle, Cha-cha-cha, Rumba, and Salsa On 1, and I also want to acknowledge the help and input from team members Jose and Rafael, especially for the Rumba and Cha-cha-cha sections. The song they are dancing Hustle and Cha-cha-cha to is a classic disco hit "You make me feel (mighty real)" by San Francisco icon Sylvester ❤️ Thank you to the dancers of VIMA, and their former directors/choreographers - Photis Pishiaras and Ron Jenkins for asking me to join them in this journey. ENJOY! #avaapple #gaygames #valenciagaygames2026 #nyhustle #vimavicesquad by @avaapple_dance

Wedding Workshop at #RAEstudios with Ava Apple, 8/25. What a lovely afternoon, working with these five sweet couples as they prepare for their first dance. I hold these workshops 2 to 3 times a year, but I am always available for private coaching, by appt. Let's get started on your dance for your big day ❤️ Whether you want something simple, classic, slow, or upbeat, we can make that happen - reach out to me, let's chat #avaapple #weddingdance #weddingdancelessons #theknotbestofweddings #firstdance #firstdancechoreography #firstdancelessons by @avaapple_dance

Final rehearsal for this season of VIMA Vice Squad 2.0, prepping for their final performance of this routine on Saturday 10/31 at @fogtownhoedown in S.F. #avaapple #samesexsalsa #nylatinhustle #genderfreedance #gaygames2026

Super bright out - not used to being in Oakland… ☀️🌞🌅

Come see the team perform! by @avaapple_dance

Join us for a friendly, welcoming Salsa class with Ava & Rodolfo every Fri. & Sat. at Cigar Bar in San Francisco's historic North Beach. You can register in advance or just show up, no partner needed! Class at 7:30 PM, live music 9:30 PM come early and have a bite to eat from Cigar Bar's Latin fusion menu, or perhaps a yummy adult beverage 😉 #avaandrodolfo #avaapple #salsaclass #salsadancing #salsadance by @avaapple_dance

So honored to once again have participated as a judge for the annual #WCLD Championships - hosted by #Salsamania founders Jhon Narvaez and Liz Rojas

Your judges for 2026 L-R Ricardo Tellez, LiWen Ang, Ava Apple. Not pictured - Royland Lobato

Ava and Jhon

Ava and Ricardo

Ava and Arthur by @avaapple_dance

Join us every Friday and Saturday for Salsa Class at Cigar Bar! 7:30 PM for class,
LIVE SALSA music after.
Come solo or with friends.
Beginners welcome 💃🏽🕺
Sign up in advance to save $'s
ALL ARE WELCOME!!! 💃🏼🕺🏾

Come early and have some yummy food or a cigar out on the patio
850 Montgomery
SF
#avaapple #salsadancing #avaandrodolfo #salsaclasses #salsadance by @avaapple_dance

Join us every Friday and Saturday for Salsa Class at Cigar Bar! 7:30 PM for class, LIVE SALSA music after.
Come solo or with friends.
Beginners welcome 💃🏽🕺
Sign up in advance to save $'s
ALL ARE WELCOME!!! 💃🏼🕺🏾

Come early and have some yummy food or a cigar out on the patio
850 Montgomery
SF #avaapple #salsadancing #avaandrodolfo #salsaclass by @avaapple_dance

So happy to get these beautiful pictures from one of the wonderful couples I got to work with this year! And actually this couple came to me very early, they started their lessons in '25 - we worked on partner dancing for some time, before getting to work on their choreography. They put in the effort and it really paid off. Congratulations to them! ♥️ #wedding #weddingdance #avaapple #weddingchoreography #theknothalloffame by @avaapple_dance

I know I've shared this before, and I'll probably share it again... My memories from 9/11. I was in New York, and at the World Trade Center exactly three weeks before the Twin Towers were hit. I had taken my dance team - The Latin Symbolics - up to the Catskills for the "New York Salsa Congress" put on by the late David Melendez. After the event, some of the team members stayed with me for a few days in NYC. I took them around to classes, parties, etc. and of course we went to WTC. I had been there many times before, primarily for Hustle dancing at "Windows on the World" the nightclub at the World Trade Center. On this day I remember standing in the middle of the plaza and looking up, it made me dizzy. As for the morning of 9/11, I was back home in California, and I was awakened by a phone call from my father saying "turn on the TV"… I sat in bed staring at the TV in shock for the next few hours. One memory I'll never forget is trying to reach my friend, the late Angel Ortiz. Besides being a wonderful dancer, he was also NYPD and I tried calling and leaving messages for days. When I finally reached him, one of the first things he said, which I will never forget, is "Ava, I had to run for my life". He was down there, I think when the second building was collapsing. Even though I continued to go to NYC 1–3 times per year, it was many years before I could go down to where the Towers had been. Too emotional. And when I did go there my main thought was that if someone hadn't ever seen the Towers in person, if they had only seen them in photos, or only saw the empty space of where they had been, there was no way for them to really comprehend how large they were. There's more, but that's it for now 😔 #wtc25 by @avaapple_dance