About
Our Mission
Bellydance is not simply about movement, it is about empowering people to love their body unconditionally. At BellaDance we want to motivate you through our teachings of health, discipline and movement and guide you on your own journey of self discovery.
Teachers
Leanna
Leanna's deep passion for raqs sharqi has given her exciting dance experiences on the TV show Reign, the film Al Qamar, and a live performance with Cirque du Soleil. As a lead dancer in YRA (formerly Arabesque Dance Co.) she has performed in the stage production Sawah, and annually at the CNE's International Stage and Dance Ontario Dance Weekend.
Leanna currently directs BellaDance who performs regularly at Art Crawls and in 2019 performed at Hamilton's biggest arts festival, Supercrawl. She also performs regularly as a soloist with YRA Entertainment and has engaged audiences with her dancing for over 15 years.
Alethea
Alethea’s introduction to dance began with her parents; family time involved listing to disco records of the mid to late 70s and early 80s while watching them dance in their living room on idle Saturday afternoons. When she joined it – at the tender age of four – her parents noticed how she kept to the rhythm of the music and decided to enroll her in ballet classes. However, a life-altering experience prevented her from continuing. Her tenacity drove her to informally explore every opportunity she could to dance by participating in school productions, fundraisers and church functions.
At sixteen years old, it was at one of these church functions where she learned the Tsifteteli, a Greek/Turkish version of belly dancing and fell in love with the art. However, instructors in the late 80s were few. It was 20 years later Alethea could take belly dance classes with a close friend and discover her true passion, and she continues to pursue this artform today.
Leah
Since the age of 4, Leah has been involved in different genres of dance. From ballet to theatre, cheerleading, hip hop and Latin dances, she enjoys the benefits it gives her both mentally and physically. Since being introduced to it in 2007, bellydance has been the genre she continuously turns to for inspiration. Leah has been performing with The Bellas since 2016 and now teaches the kids classes at BellaDance.
Leah has been working with at-risk children and youth since 2004 in both schools and residential settings. She has taught subjects such as academics, English as a Second Language, social/emotional, cultural, activity, self care and life skills programming. Leah has also done some behaviour therapy and was also a foster parent.