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…

LA'S TOP MALE SOLO SALSA COMPETITION — On Sunday, December 4th, 2011, those willing to compete against each other in order to prove that they are the Top Male Salsa Dancer in Los Angeles, went head to head at Steven's Steak House in the now highly acclaimed: Steven's Steak House LA's Top Male Solo Salsa Competition.And then, after the winners were announced on both categories, pro and semi-pro, salsa dancers all over began voicing their deep displeasure with the results all over social networks within the court of public opinion. The problem is that while some understand that the culprits of the wildly disliked results were the judges, some opted to blame the venue and its ownership. You who are doing that got it all wrong. Do not blame the venue and its ownership. All the venue did was put an event together and sought to give out some prize money, while entertaining…

WORLD LATIN DANCE CUP, LAS VEGAS — The 2nd Annual World Dance Cup at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada is coming up from December 14 to the 17. This is certainly going to be a great event with spectacular dancing that will inspire you to become "the best you can be" in your own salsa dancing, competing, or performing. A great thing that is being done is that the organizing team is pre-approving music from local bands, artists, or music labels for the competitors to choose from and build their routines with. This will help promote the music of the musicians that we all love, and will aid them in producing future material that will be 'copyright-infringement-free' when going for sale, or being posted on youtube for promotional purposes, or simply shared with friends. Dimelo Records so far has 98 songs approved from their music label and all…

GRANADA SATURDAY SALSA DANCING — The Granada in Alhambra is still a venue that caters tremendously to Salsa dancing and is surely one of the top salsa venues in Los Angeles, CA. There are signs of a small decline in popularity according to people's opinions, stating that some Saturdays the venue is only half-full, but that's probably just a sign of the economy we are living in the United States, and how less and less people have discretionary money to spend on recreational activities like going salsa dancing. But last night, when I had the opportunity to attend after quite a while of being absent from the venue, I saw no sign of a decline! It was packed, the dancers were glowing, everyone was having fun, and it even seemed a bit too crowded at some points of the night. It's certainly a happening club!Orquesta Tabaco y Ron was playing live at…

THE WAREHOUSE FRIDAY NIGHTS — Anthony Long, promoter of The Warehouse Friday Salsa Nights in Marina Del Rey, CA, should be thanked by some type of salsa commission in Los Angeles for providing over 3 years now, of such a great salsa dancing venue in the city! Seriously, where else would we go to? Indeed, the Warehouse continues to be a top Salsa dancing spot in Los Angeles that attracts some of the best salsa dancers and the happiest crowd in the city. After months of not being privileged to visit this spot due my recent hiatus from salsa (going out and stuff), I was finally able to go last night and I must say, what an amazing time I time! The music by DJ Charlie is just great (he is still singing on the mic to depressing-this-girl-left-me salsa song lyrics--a must see for all!), the floor isactually longer and wider than…

BELASCO THURSDAY SALSA NIGHT — So, last night was my first time at the Belasco nightclub in Downtown Los Angeles. Right off the top, driving up to Hill St. made me feel as if I was going to the Mayan on a Thursday night, which didn't feel right. But as soon as you park and get there, you KNOW this place is happening and it is sure to be a good time!There was a line outside for people wanting to get in. As you get in, you start realizing what a classic type of building this really is. It is completely restored and has state of the art sound, lighting systems, and just a great and classy environment that you won't find anywhere else in LA. There is truly no comparison to the Mayan next door...which is an ancient venue that has capitalized for years without any competition in the…

SALSA SCREAM 2011 — Salsa Scream is a multiple-day Halloween salsa event being planned for the dates between October 27 and October 30. This Halloween salsa event will be the place to be for Halloween this year!!BUY PRE-SALE TICKETS HERE & SAVE MONEY!!! Click!(Pre-Sale ends Wed., Oct., 26 at midnight)

The event will be held at the IRVINE HYATT REGENCY HOTEL (see exact location and get driving directions) and it promises to be one event that will have you screaming, literally, of salsa joy and happiness! Salsa Scream will have salsa and bachata dance workshops, performances, and open dancing to some of the best music by some of the very best DJs in the city. (see complete event info here) The open dancing goes all the way until 4 A.M.!There will be an open Dance Competition with a total of $2,000 in prizes and a Best Costume Contest with…

CARLITOS & MARILYN, L.A. SALSA CHAMPIONS — The final round of Steven Steak House's 2011 Amateur Salsa Competition took place last Sunday, on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks in New York.Stevens Steak House, a venue that is known for being very patriotic, paid tribute on this special remembrance date with the Live music of a compilation of all the best musicians in the city of Los Angeles. The best musicians from every popular band in Los Angeles came together to unite their talent and musical gifts and play for a bustling crowd of salsa dancers who truly love salsa music.The highlight of the night and what every person attending expected to see, was the culmination of the SSH Amateur Competition, which has showcased some of the best salsa dancing Stevens Steak House has ever seen from an amateur group of dancers. The four couples…

GRANADA SALSA COMPETITION 2011 — The Granada Nightclub in Alhambra, CA will be holding its 3rd Annual World Salsa Competition in September 2011! 

The competition will start on Saturday, September 10, 2011 and will go on until October 29th, 2011. With a total purse of $10,500 in prizes, it is sure to see a lot of participation from dancers in Los Angeles and maybe some visiting dancers from other cities. 

REGISTER & COMPETITION RULES:

If you would like to register to compete, you can go online at this link. You can also read the competition rules here.

The preliminary rounds will be a popularity contest for dancers who are competing...which means, the couples that get the most applause, regardless of talent, skill, or routine, will go on to the following rounds. But on the following rounds, judges carefully chosen by the club will decide the further fate of…

SSH SALSA TEAM COMPETITION — Grizzly Dance Company took 1st place at the 2011 Stevens Steak House Salsa Team Competition held on July 24, 2011 at the world famous and only Stevens Steak House. 

In a face-off of L.A. Style salsa dancing at this 2nd Annual SSH salsa team competition, the Grizzly Dance Company (directed by Grizzly Hidriago) went up against teams like: LA Fusion Dance Company (directed by Zulmara Torres), Amicitia Dance Company (directed by Junior and Emily Alabi), and Prodigy Dance Company. 

All teams showcased great talent and skill, but at the end of the night only one could be the winner. Amicitia Dance Company, by just 1 point in the scoreboard, took second place in the competition. Third and fourth places were not announced. 

Stevens Steak House, a true mecca of LA salsa dancing, once again put together a great competition that allowed Los Angeles…

ADRIAN & ANITA SALSA — The names Anita Santos Rubin and Adrián Rodríguez might be completely foreign and unknown to, even, 'hardcore' salsa dancers in Los Angeles. But to thousands around the world, mainly in Europe, Australia, and Asia, the names Adrián and Anita are as well-known as Jennifer López and Marc Anthony are to us here in LA (notice I didn't dare compare them to any local salsero couple). 

In LA we fail to realize how much talent is out there and how much more advanced they are in skill, creativity, speed, cleanliness, showmanship, and execution.

LA is said to have been once at the top of the world when it came to Salsa dancing. We had the best of the best right inside our clubs and people would come from all over the world to our LA Salsa Congress to see "us" dance. Now, LA is…

STEVENS STEAK HOUSE SALSA — Stevens Steak House is known to be the best and most popular salsa dancing club in Los Angeles, CA. It is very spacious, has some of the best DJs and dance instructors in town, features some of the best Live bands in a weekly basis, and is constantly attended by some of the best dancers in all of LA.

No other Latin club in Los Angeles does what Stevens Steak House does: have 7 nights of dancing throughout the week that are highly popular amongst Latin music and dancing lovers in the city. 

[ VIEW STEVENS' WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF DANCING ]

Sundays nights at Stevens attracts hundreds of salsa dancers eager to dance to the best Latin tunes played by DJ Luis "Pachanga" and DJ Martin "El Travieso". This is like church for Salsa dancers in the city -- a night of…

GRANADA SALSA CLUB — The Granada club was, from its inception into the Los Angeles Salsa Scene, one of the hottest clubs in all of Los Angeles. With live entertainment, a very spacious ballroom, good parking accessibility, and great salsa lessons from inhouse instructors, Salseros in Los Angeles quickly made it one of their favorite Salsa spots to go to. 

When you go to the Granada Club in Alhambra, you can expect a great time and great dancers to dance with. On1 or On2, the Granada in Alhambra is the spot to be at on a Saturday night in Los Angeles. 

With its inhouse dance school, known also as the "Granada Salsa Central" or "Let's Dance L.A.", students from all over the city go to the Granada to learn from true dance professionals and instructors. Their lessons are always packed and new students always have someone to dance…

TOP SALSERA LOS ANGELES 2011 — This year, the 5th Annual LA's Top Female Salsa Dancer Competition took place one more time at the hottest Salsa club in Los Angeles, Stevens Steak House!

In this competition, solo female dancers go face to face against each other to prove WHO is the best female salsa dancer in the city. There is a professional and amateur division and it is all great entertainment. 

Stevens Steak House has become a mecca for Salsa competitions in Los Angeles in the recent years, which has fed life into a Latin dance scene that has influenced Salsa dancing all over the world.

Coming up will be the Amateur Salsa Competition, which will have its preliminary nights on July 31st and August 7th, and will conclude on August 14th. Competitors will win $2,500 in prizes. Registrations are already open by calling 310-800-4195.

The…

LOS ANGELES FRIDAY SALSA — How many cities can say that they have more than five options in Salsa venues to go to on a Friday night? Can San Diego or San Francisco say that? How about New York? I am sure they can, and maybe they even have more. 

Well, what if we spoke about fourteen Salsa nightclubs happening every Friday night in the city of Los Angeles? (and that excludes The Mayan and other venues that we don't really consider "Salsa clubs") Yes, that's how many venues we have every Friday night in Los Angeles! 

A lot of people living in Los Angeles don't give any importance to this, as they are simply used to having the options and that's that. But when you love salsa dancing and you are stuck in a city that only has one, or two, or three venues on any given night…