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Meet The Administration Team

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Susie Grafte

Owner/Director

Susie Nguyen Grafte, Mrs. Ooh La La "Salsa Susie". Owner, Founder, Creator, Director, Choreographer of Ooh La La Dance Academy, Inc, and Ooh La La Revue. A Petite Powerhouse. Passionate Dancer. World Traveler. ESPN World Salsa Cabaret Finalist-Ranked 15th in the World. America's Got Talent 2011 Season 6 Semi Finalist. Latin Heels Fusion Pioneer. Raw Award Indie Winner. All-American Cheerleader. Captain. First American to hold a National Costa Rican Championship Title. MTV's Hip Hop Finalist. An SDSU Aztec International Business Major. A Spanish & Finance Minor. President's Club Achiever. First Generation Dreamer. Lover. Fighter. Mother. Susie loves intensified living, adventure and spontaneity. Always laughing, embracing change and coming up with new ideas, Susie keeps life exhilarating! She pirouettes, sails forbidden seas, gallivants the globe and does it in high heels! She has a powerful religion and it's called Life. Dance makes her feel physical, strong and empowered so she equates Movement with Freedom. "Music is my diet & dance feeds my soul”.  Susie started teaching dance in San Diego in 2005, but  founded Ooh La La Dance Academy in 2011 when she built up enough clientele, credit and courage.  Ooh La La Dance Academy has been voted Best Dance Studio in San Diego for 14 years consecutively. Ooh La La offers all genres of dance to preschool, youth, teens & adults.  We L-O-V-E what we do so please join us in the dance….in our our journey of life.  

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Annette Berumen
Studio Manager/Admin 

Coming Soon 

Meet the Faculty

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Odessa Uno

Ballet Master, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Competition Coach, Adult Program

Odessa Mae Uno is a Filipino American movement based artist currently based in Southern California. Ms. Uno is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and the most recent recipient of the San Diego's Young Choreographer's Competition. With a mission to make dance an accessible art form, she develops and nurtures spaces that encourage movement as therapy, investigation, and celebration.

"I believe that dance has the power to strengthen mentally, physically, and emotionally. As a teacher my goal is to push students to work with thoughtfulness and specificity that transcends the dance studio. I am grateful to be able to work with the fantastic students at Ooh La La, and I am excited to continue seeing their growth!"

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Ashley Garcia

Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop 

Ashley's dance journey began at the age of three, where she danced at Melodic Remedy Dance Studio in the Bay Area. There, she explored a variety of styles including Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, Musical Theater, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Ballet. Throughout her journey, she actively participated in numerous dance conventions and competitions, alongside training on both her high school and college dance teams.In her most recent chapter, Ashley dedicated four years to the University of San Diego Dance Team, where she not only danced but also led as captain during her final two years. Alongside her passion for dance, Ashley pursued her academic aspirations earning a degree in Business Administration and Real Estate.Ashley finds fulfillment in inspiring young dancers and sharing her love for dance with others. She values the opportunity to witness her students' growth and development, serving as a mentor and source of encouragement along their dance journeys.

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Amber Hoffman

Competition Director,
Tap Master, Ballet, Contemporary, Musical Theatre,Competition Coac
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Coming Soon

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LynnRae Hiers

Technique and Turns Instructor, Youth Program

Lynnrae Hiers danced for 23 years.  Her love for dance started with her dance Instructor Terry Schulke at J.P.D. She went on to win various awards such as Ms. K.A.R and Ms. Showbiz and scholarships at L.A. underground. Lynnrae trained with Keri LaGrande(Tremaine),Julie Rhoton, and Sharee Giles who formed her technical background. She later won performer of the year with LA/San Diego dance company, Unity, as an assistant to Tessandra Chavez who is a Grammy award winning choreographer. She also signed to an Agent in LA with an agency called Dorothy Day Otis. Lynnrae was hired by Sharon Keller, amazing tap instructor/choreographer, 40 year dance studio owner at San Diego Dance Centre in 2003. She worked there for 14 years, where she trained Sophia Lucia who broke the world record for 55 pirouettes in Guinness world of Records. Lynnrae has trained dancers who have become mothers, dancers with Cirque de Soleil, been on music videos, toured with popular artist, danced with Disney, danced on cruise ships, danced in New York, danced on college dance teams such as Pace University, SDSU, GCU, Chapman, ASU, Udub. She has also trained dancers who are now Laker girls, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and dance for the Phoenix Suns. Also many of Lynnrae’s students are dance instructors themselves. She has now been teaching in San Diego for 19 years. She teaches masterclasses at various High Schools and with Aerial Achievements. Lynnrae enjoys teaching privates and continues to share her passion teaching at Ooh La La Dance Academy. 

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Nalani Dikitanan

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Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Acrobatics, Contemporary, Youth Program

Nalani has studied many styles of dance including ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and some tap. She has had the opportunity to learn from many instructors that are prominent in the dance industry including Kyle Hanagami, Whitney Bezzant, Dee Caspary, and many more. Nalani has competed at many regionals and nationals throughout her years of studio dance, winning multiple awards and scholarships. She has also had the opportunity to assist many of her mentors and help inspire many dancers. Nalani is currently attending SDSU and is in her junior year of college as a kinesiology major, in hopes to become an occupational therapist. Nalani is currently on the Nationally Winning SDSU Dance Team and teaching at Ooh La La Dance Acadmy. 

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"I strive to inspire and share my love for dance for every student I encounter and I'm grateful to just be a part of their dance journey."

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Asia Tano Aicher Garcia 

 

 Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop 
 

Coming Soon

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Analiese Villasenor


Contemporary, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, PreK Program

Analiese Villasenor has been dancing from the age of 2 years old. She grew up dancing at Murrieta Dance Project getting her training from Erin Babbs, Oriales Ashley, Justin Pham, Ryann Alveraz, Susan Barnett, and Marco Cruz. She has studied many styles of dance such as Jazz, tap, Hip hop, Contemporary, lyrical and ballet. Analiese has competed at multiple dance competitions and conventions, winning multiple awards and scholarships. Analiese also throughout her High School years competed with her High school dance team at NDTC nationals in Orlando. She is currently going to school to get her Cosmetology license. She loves motivating young dancers to reach for their goals and gives them the mindset that they can achieve anything.

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Elizabeth Sah
 

Coming Soon

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Yared Martinez

Ladies Styling & Ladies Bachata Teams

Bio Coming Soon!

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Eric Payan

Hip Hop 

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Bio Coming Soon!

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Erik Berumen
Ballroom & Latin Dance 
Wedding 
Instructor

Bio Coming Soon!

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Sergio Jesus Peralta
Acrobatics

Bio Coming Soon!

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