Sarah Parra is originally from Del Mar, California. She began dancing at the age of 5 years. As a child she studied ballet, tap, modern and jazz. She continued to dance through most of her childhood. It wasn’t until college at UCI that she discovered Flamenco dance and began to study under Antonio Rojas. Under Antonio Rojas she discovered the power of Flamenco and its ability to transform and unite people at the same time.She began working shortly after graduation from UC Irvine at local Flamenco clubs. Her performance history began in 1989 in Newport Beach. Since then she has been dancing in local nightclubs and theatres in Southern California. Currently she performs in theatres such as the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood, Irvine Barclay, and the Warner Grand in San Pedro. She also directs her own company, Esencia Flamenca Dance Company, that has been performing at Cal State Long Beach, The Warner Grand Theatre and the Ivar Theatre.When Sarah began teaching in 1991, she noticed a lack of quality Flamenco Education in California. Since then, it has been her passion and focus to provide the highest quality of Flamenco training that she can. She has spent ample time in Madrid, Sevilla and Jerez. The bulk of those trips have been spent in Sevilla training under Manolo Marin, Alicia Marquez and Maria Pages.In the year 2000, Sarah founded Esencia Flamenca Dance Company. The mission of this performing group has been to provide high quality performances to California audiences.In the year 2006, Esencia Flamenca Dance Company became a non-profit organization and has widened its goals significantly.Sarah also teaches at Cypress College where she has been working to raise the bar of Flamenco training available to community college students. Since she began at Cypress class have grown from one Flamenco class to three- beginning, intermediate and Flamenco Dance Ensemble (a performance group).
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