RECAP | Jazz Funk with Sassi Fran & Eliza Viera
- RAE Crew
- Feb 17
- 4 min read
Runnin' around in your city, I'm
Hitting you up for a good, good time
Whatever the weather, we're going outside
Birds of a feather, we're going all night
On behalf of Rae Studios we want to give a huge thank you to everyone who showed up and showed out at our Jazz Funk Spotlight with the forever adorable Sassi Fran and Eliza Viera! Check out the post below for photos and videos of the amazing class that took place this past weekend!
The next chance to get to experience the magic of a Sassi Fran x Eliza Viera collab is their Spring Performance Workshop! They will be doing another Beg/Int Jazz Funk piece called "Dance into the Neon Night", inspired by Queer night clubs through the 80s, 90s, and modern times. The music used for our piece mixes disco, synth, and house and the routine will incorporate some vogue, waacking, house, and other street styles blended seamlessly with jazz. See the playlist of the songs they'll be using for their performance workshop piece here.
This will be an 8-week workshop starting on April 8th, every Wednesday from 9pm-10:45pm at Rae Studios leading up to the Spring Showcase at Palace of Fine Arts on Sunday May 31st.
See the full details and how to register for the workshop HERE. AND don't forget, you can get $10 off using promo code ELIZAFRAN. There are also payment plans available! The earlier you purchase, the more time you'll get to pay it off.
To help us continue developing our spotlight classes, please take a moment to complete this Google Form asking for your feedback on the class.
EVENT CREDITS:
Featured Instructor: Sassi Fran | @hello.sassi.fran
Featured Instructor: Eliza Viera | @shiny.eliza
Event Staff: Emilie Posadas | Studio Host
CLASS VIDEO
CLASS PHOTOS
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Sassi Fran and Eliza Viera are teaming up for a February beginner/intermediate jazz funk spotlight! This two-hour workshop will cover roughly one minute of choreography, with an emphasis on performance quality, camera awareness, and clean, intentional lines.
Both Sassi Fran and Eliza are Rae Studios Jazz Funk and K-Pop instructors who have founded K-pop cover groups in San Francisco. After teaching back-to-back Monday classes, they quickly realized they’re often on the same wavelength: sharing similar dance backgrounds, movement sensibilities, and creative instincts (plus, they’re very cute)!
In 2026, they’ll be leaning into a more vogue-influenced style after taking a vogue intensive together, and will be co-leading a jazz funk performance workshop in April. This February spotlight is your chance to get a sneak peek at how that fusion comes to life. 👯♀️
Date: Sunday, February 15th
Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm
Tickets:
$35 General Admission
$25 Member's Discount
Registration required for this event. Please note, all sales for specialty classes are final. No refunds will be given for missed or forfeited classes.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS
Francesca Balagtas, aka Sassi Fran, was born in San Francisco but raised in Las Vegas. She started dancing at the age of 4 doing tap and ballet. Throughout childhood and adolescence she added in other styles such as jazz, hip hop, street jazz, Hula, Tahitian, and Maori. At the age of 18, Fran moved back to her birthplace of San Francisco to study art in a BFA program for sculpture at San Francisco Art Institute.
Although her studies were in visual arts, she always hungered for dance. She began dancing with many dance groups in San Francisco such as Bay Area Flash Mob, Sexitude, and Bay Area Dancers. After graduating from SFAI, she found herself getting back into k-pop music, something she had first discovered in high school.
In addition to teaching around the San Francisco Bay Area, Fran is also a local drag performer known as Sassi Fran. Sassi Fran incorporates k-pop into many of her drag performances and hosts a quarterly Queer K-pop Dance Party/drag show to continue spreading the joys of k-pop music and dance.
You can find her on instagram @hello.sassi.fran
Elizabeth Viera is a lifelong dancer with over 25 years of experience. She began her training in competitive jazz, tap, and ballet, building a strong technical foundation that continues to shape her performative style. While she’s explored many genres over the years, she found her true love in jazz-funk, K-pop, and musical theater — styles that let her fully embrace character, storytelling, and expression.
Now based in San Francisco, Elizabeth brings a bright, energetic presence to everything she does. She blends artistry and athleticism in her approach to dance, with a focus on helping people feel strong, confident, and at home in their bodies — wherever they are in their movement journey.
Her classes emphasize performance and are infused with influences from many styles and cultures. She’s trained in four languages across Detroit, New York, Toronto, Tokyo, and San Francisco. After three years as a dancer in the RAE community and participating in four performance workshops, Elizabeth is thrilled to join the RAE teaching team.
You can find her on instagram @shiny.eliza
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