One Saturday morning at the age of 6 in 1969, Leyla's life would change forever when she saw Belly Dancers performing on TV. With eyes glued to the screen, cereal coming out of her mouth she gazed longingly as each dancer wove her magical spell. Dreaming of the day she'd be twirling in a beautiful costume dancing to the envy of all her friends, mom told her good Catholic girls don't Belly Dance. But Belly Dancing had chosen Leyla and she knew for sure that one day she'd be the one dancing on stage and in front of big crowds. Starting with Leyla's impassioned years and her debut to a standing...

More often then not I have found that dancers get to a place within the intermediate stage of dance and they find that choreography is a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. The movements of dance can feel effortless and if you look at the completed picture of the puzzle, what seems simple enough to put together, isn't. In many ways hearing music and becoming inspired and impassioned with the sound is like seeing the finished dance before it is created. This can become a problem for some choreographers. Standing before the mirror and thinking of what goes with what part of the music is an...