Rebecca Katz is one of the founders of Philadelphia Dance Connection, and an avid competitive and social dancer across many dance styles, including ballroom dance and Latin dance. Like many children, Rebecca began dancing at the age of 3, taking ballet, tap and jazz as a child, but then moved on to other athletic activities during her school years, such as track, rugby, and rowing. In her 40s, after seeing a group of friends dance salsa at a party, she wanted to take a few dance lessons and learn enough to ‘get by’ in a social setting. Little did she know, she’d get bitten by the dance bug.

 

Over the past 6 years, Rebecca has competed in national and world pro-Am competitions, consistently placing in the finals for the ballroom styles of Smooth, Standard, Latin and Rhythm. She was named top student competitor for Latin and Ballroom styles at the 2022 United States Dance Championship, and was vice-champion in Ballroom and Smooth and fourth overall in Rhythm at the 2021 Fred Astaire World Competition.

 

After taking salsa and bachata group classes with fellow PDC founders, Joe Figeuroa and Sharonne Vinokurov, Rebecca gained the confidence to go ‘into the wild’ and dance at Philadelphia area social dance clubs. Now, most weekends, you can find her salsa dancing with the large Philly Latin dance community. Rebecca’s mission in helping found PDC, was to bring more people into the dance community – whether to just dance socially or to perform in shows and competitions-- because both have given her lasting friendships, tons of laughter and happiness, and better overall health and fitness.