Denise Leclair for the Gilded Serpent

The Gilded Serpent presents
Denise Leclair

Whoever imagined bellydance in the Great White North of Alberta, Canada? A few thousand dancers is all.

Denise Leclair moved to Edmonton, Alberta Canada (just north of Montana) in the spring of 2002 from the Bay Area, California. She began her Middle Eastern dance training in California, in 1995, motivated by a broken heart over a departed boyfriend. She hasn’t looked back once. The founder and now Artistic Director of Raq-a-Belly dance! she has helped bring tribal dance to Edmonton, as well as a few other dance goodies to share with the established Raq Sharki dancers, who graciously shared with her as well.

Since then she has been performing, teaching, choreographing and learning, always learning. Her vision of empowering immigrant communities includes working with local African communities to showcase their talents and explore dance and music collaborations. She also is taking Flamenco to the chagrin of her floors. Hole!

www.raqabellydance.com

Articles on Gilded Serpent by or about Denise:
3-28-08 Gypsy…Un, Deux, Trois, A Review on the “Journey Along The Gypsy Trail” Workshop by Denise
with Hadia, Jalilah Zamora, and Amrita Choudhury, Photos by Denise and Tracey Vilbert, Event held on January 5, 6, 2008, in Montreal, Canada

10-23-07 Khamsa Holidays, A Dance and Culture Camp in Tunisia Report and photos by Denise Leclair
How do you judge a dance trip? Would you go back next year? …in a heartbeat. Damn the cost and mercury retrograde and the heat. It was that good!