Mark Sargent
Dancer/Ladies Man

Mark was born and raised in Somerville, New Jersey. Ya know,...the "gaaarden state" right next to New Yooork! Mark explains that growing up in the garden state is both a unique and bizarre life experience all in itself and that probably explains a lot about him right there! He even claims it gave him his special sense of humor. You'd never know it to talk to him though. Well, about being from Jersey as he somehow never developed the typical Jersey accent.

Mark started dancing salsa about 9 years ago. His love of salsa music came from traveling to Puerto Rico frequently with his father through his junior high days through his college days. He fell in love with the vibrancy of the dance and the skill of the dancers. At that time, there were not 'classes' as everyone just learned at home and passed it on. He bought all the salsa he could find and brought it home with him on each trip.

It was years later before Mark decided to take a formal salsa class. After moving to the Washington DC Metro area, he saw a sign in the window of the Shark Club (where he also developed his role as a ladies' man) that advertised drop-in classes. He checked it out and got hooked. He went on to take classes at all levels from different studios and teachers and finally, numerous private lessons which he feels helped him the most.

It was at the Shark Club where Mark caught the rueda bug. Some guy named Piero did a demo/performance "Casino Rueda" and Mark was awestruck. Immediately he knew he wanted to learn it and began taking classes with Piero and Claudia at Chevy Chase Ballroom. Since then he has taken lessons with many of the rueda teachers in DC and has known some of us (Jennifer, Paloma, Jimmy) for years. He even remembers when Ernesto took his first class. He finally decided to join the SAOCO performance group about a year ago and we have enjoyed having him! Besides salsa, Mark enjoys dancing merengue, cha cha, and bachata.

When not dancing, Mark is a bit of a nerd (his words, not mine). He enjoys nature and the natural sciences, wildlife and animal conservation, archeology, anthropology, gardening and traveling. Although none of that sounds too nerdy. He has traveled extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean where he has honed his Spanish-skills. He even spent a semester in Guatemala studying Maya culture. He also mentioned something about Easter egg hunting off the coast of Chile on some island. The rest of Mark's interests must be edited beyond this point as we do try to keep this as a "family-friendly" website.