SARAH OXLEY, LOS ANGELES SALSA — A few weeks ago I had a chance to go to the Warehouse on a Friday night and I happened to dance with one of the best follows that I have ever had the pleasure of dancing with in Los Angeles. Her name? Sarah Oxley. 

A truly beautiful girl, it is easy to imagine that guys are just flocking to her on the dance floor and are almost fighting for a chance to dance with her, simply because of her looks. I am always suspect of things like that, as I do not like to be classified as a 'wolf' and am there for the dancing, not anything else. 

But as I got the opportunity to dance with her that night, wow!, the feeling was amazing! No weight, so light, so much ease of follow; resulting in me being able to interpret to the salsa song so majestically and so musically. I was hooked. Salsa(hooked). 

Sarah is one of those dream dancers who pull their weight as they move and follow on the dance floor and with whom you can lightly move just one finger and she will know exactly what is being asked of her. No need for your whole wrist to send the message, or forearm, or whole arm! 

So, I thought... Sarah should totally be teaching in Los Angeles and showing other follows, who care to learn and improve, how to follow like her! To my surprise, Sarah Oxley does teach Salsa! She is a regular Salsa instructor and well known personality within the Long Beach Salsa Scene, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Salsa Scene. 

Sarah teaches Advanced Salsa classes on Monday nights at 9 PM at the PCH Club in Long Beach, and Beginning Salsa on Tuesday nights at 8:30 PM at Alegria Cocina Latina in downtown Long Beach. 

I truly encourage every follow in the city to go and learn from her! And if you are a lead reading this and would like to experience what I experienced, you should go too. There's always dancing afterward!


SO, WHO IN THE WORLD WIDE SALSA SCENE IS SARAH OXLEY?

Sarah was born in Ventura, CA and raised in Napa Valley. She was introduced to dance at age 6 and has been dancing for about 17 years. What started with little cute tap and ballet classes, turned into many other dance crazes later on in life. 

At 14, she was introduced to salsa dancing by her older sister, who would visit home from Los Angeles and teach her moves. That led to attending the San Francisco Salsa Congress where she was exposed to a much higher caliber of dancing, performances, and a sub-culture niche that began growing inside her. 

While she was still in high school, and when she would visit her sister in Los Angeles, she would be taken to salsa clubs, events, and performances. 

When she graduated from high school and opted for California State University, Long Beach, as her high studies school, she quickly began searching for a way to get involved with Salsa. She found it within her school, with the CSULB Salsa Club, which was founded by Kevin Ngo, and she immediately joined, began taking weekly classes from guest instructors, and in the Fall of 2006, the CSULB Performance Team was started, which she was a part of. 

She credits her coaches, Kevin Ngo, Andy Tran, and Laura Luu, for a lot of her learning and development as a salsa dancer. But we should note also that Sarah had already been highly exposed to tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and some east coast swing. Surely, she had a lot of advantages in dance that most people who begin dancing salsa do not have as a background. 

Sarah is an extremely happy person, and it will show when you meet her. Her huge smile and sparkling eyes will transmit a joy that you don't find in many places in life. This surely positively contributes to her approach of life, and maybe adds to how well she has been able to learn and develop her dancing? A tip for all of us: smile a lot! 

Soon, Sarah will have obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Architectural Design, and within five years she plans on having completed her Master's degree in fine arts, architecture, or music program. Truly, a woman of intelligence and who plans on being successful in whatever she does. 

Sarah is pretty down to earth, even with all her accomplishments and the grandeur about her, and amongst her life goals are having a family some day, building a successful career, and still be dancing, teaching, or being related to dance in some way. That, paired with her desire to live abroad at some point and experience other cultures, will make for a very happy life. 

You should come learn dance from Sarah because she truly enjoys teaching, and not because it is a means to an end for her. She will be interested in having you learn and become proficient in dance, and not hold you back, so that you take more lessons from her...as many other instructors are prone to do when dance is an important source of income for their living. 

Sarah remembers the great feeling of wanting to learn and having helpful instructors and coaches that really made a positive impact on her, and allowed her to love growing as a dancer. As an instructor and now, as an assitant coach with CSULB Salsa Dance Team, which is led by Andy Tran, that is her goal. 


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Sarah, you know I miss dancing with you. Especially now, that I type about the greatness of your following abilities, it truly makes me miss that one day when I discovered you. :) ... So, keep on dancing, smiling, progressing in life, sharing the joy of dance with others, and finding joy in all you do. Good luck in all your dreams and endeavors.