Leila is an American born dancer who is currently one of the fastest rising stars of the Egyptian dance scene. She is a sought after performer for weddings, parties and the nightclubs of Cairo's five star hotels. Leila has collaborated with many superstar singers (Sameera Saeed, Hishem Abaz, Moustafa Amr, Khalid Seleem, Ali Haggar, Hakim, Ahkmed Fathi-to name a few) performing oriental dance in live, televised concerts and video clips.
Along with dancing, Leila is a recognizable face on Arabic television having acted in numerous commercials as well as being featured on the covers of every major fashion magazine in Egypt. She recently made her cinema debut where she acted and danced in the blockbuster "Abu Araby Wasal."

Leila has also produced an oriental dance CD "Helwa" and a video "Bint al Balad" of her Cairo show. Leila teaches in Cairo four times a year with the Nile Group Festival and she also travels twice a year to perform and teach workshops abroad.

LeilaInEgypt.com

Articles on Gilded Serpent by or about Leila:
2-16-10 Hot Bellydance Event in Tijuana by Martha Duran
Leila Farid from Cairo Egypt is a sweetheart! She is what many Mexican dancers aspire to look and dance like. Wow! She is gorgeous and mesmerizing - as well as extremely nice, polite and down to earth! My star struck students were amazed to catch her snacking on Mexican Rancheritos (chips) and eating breakfast like a Mexican, with tortillas! She’s so fit that we couldn’t imagine she snacked on chips tortillas like the rest of us. Her master class was magnificent.

10-14-08 Inside Peek at Making Music Videos: Hakim, Khalid Selim, Walid Toufic, Ali el Hagar, Elam, & Samira Said by Leila
I was either crying or yelling at Hakim for most of the shoot and went home each day with a headache from it.

7-15-08 Egyptian Wedding Stories by Leila of Cairo
All the guests were staring at us. The father of the bride demanded to know who ordered the bellydancer and it seemed a fight was going to break out between representatives of the brides’ family and the hotel organizer.

5-17-07 Interview with Kay Taylor by Leila of Cairo
As Kay seemed a bit older and wiser to the ways of Cairo, many people assumed she was my manager. They would address their questions about my fee or my experience to Kay.

12-30-06 I Dance; You Follow by Leila
As Westerners interested in an Eastern dance form, we might want to ask ourselves if we are missing certain critical aspects of Raqs Sharki because we are not open to Eastern teaching methods.

11-17-06 Interview with Safaa Farid by Leila
These days there are times I feel I've seen everything an Egyptian dancer can do in the first five minutes of her show. She doesn't change. But foreigners study the dance very hard and they put much time into their show so that is it interesting for a whole hour.

8-16-07 What Middle Eastern Audiences Expect from a Belly Dancer by Leila
Audiences in the Middle East, especially Egyptians, see bellydancing as something to be participated in, critiqued, and loved (or hated) with gusto.

5-17-06 An interview with Leila by Lynette
"Turning tricks," or sleeping with nightclub or hotel owners, is not required to make it as a dancer in Egypt, but it is a complicated and questionable industry and there are many pressures.

7-21-04 Leila, An American Dancer in Cairo by Catherine Barros,
She would walk into these huge ballrooms filled with thousands of people with a huge stage in the middle of the room while television cameras on cranes are taking note of everything.

3-17-06 Photos of Friday Evening show from Aida Nour & Magdy El-Leisy Workshop 2006 Photos by Lynette Harris & staff, sponsored by Little Egypt held on Feb 24, 2006 in Los Angeles, California,

2007 Tour Schedule
Leila of Egypt, workshops in the USA
Washington DC, Seattle, Dallas, Los Angeles March 2007

Cover page | Contents | Community Kaleidoscope | North Beach Memories | Letters to the Editor | Comics | Archives | Clubs & Calendar | Resources
About Us| Submission Guidelines | Advertising Guidelines| Volunteer Opportunities | Contact Editor