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LAYLA Belly Dancing
Layla is a Los Angeles native of Middle Eastern decent who comes from a long legacy of female dancers. As a Russian-trained gymnast and ballerina, Layla trained for the Olympics in gymnastics and was offered a dance scholarship in New York before she even reached high school. However, her true passion is belly dancing. Her inspiration to pursue oriental dance, came ten years ago when she was living in the Middle East and read the life story of Tahiya Carioca. This story inspired her to travel to Egypt, where she studied classical, Egyptian-style belly dancing under the world’s premier belly dance instructor, Raqia Hassan. As an acclaimed belly dance choreographer and instructor, Layla has taught famous individual artists such as Paulina Rubio and Natasha Bedingfield, as well as local aspiring dancers. During the summer of 2007, she had the honor of being asked personally by Raqia Hassan to teach at the Ahlan wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo. She also choreographs for her dance company, Layla and the Lotus Dancers, who perform weekly throughout LA and have performed internationally. Last year she put out her first Belly Dance DVD, “Twelve of the Hottest Belly Dance Moves”, which was a beautiful celebration for her, because she was four months pregnant with her son, Rio, while shooting the video. Layla has been very busy for the past year, being a mom and raising her little boy, Rio Mica Luna, who she considers her greatest choreography ever. Layla is currently represented by the elite dance agency, DDO, and continues to perform, teach and choreograph locally and internationally.
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Belly Dancing Mon 8:00-9:00P
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Picture and bio courtesy of the teacher. |
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