Assistant Director & Instructor

Leyla Soleil is a captivating professional dance performer and instructor with decades of experience. Her dance journey began at the age of nine with baton and dance, where she excelled, winning numerous awards and placing third at the state level in Ohio. At 16, she had the immense honor of being invited to perform a baton solo at the Governor’s Mansion in Hawaii.

In 1999, a chance drop-in at a local belly dance class proved life-changing, and Leyla found herself on her second dance journey. She quickly thereafter established herself as a prominent dancer in Northeast Ohio, performing at restaurants, nightclubs, weddings, community events, and major dance events. Some of the most notable venues Leyla has danced at in Ohio include: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a season as “the belly dancer” for “TOGA” at Dinner Theater Pickwick and Frolic, Cleveland Arts Fest Pandemonium, Oberlin College, Stan Hywett Hall and Gardens, the Iconic Tangier, Oktoberfest, The Ohio Com Fest, and more.

Leyla began receiving invitations to teach master classes to other professional dancers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She was hired as the featured instructor at many well-known events in the area including Conchi’s Mediterranean Echoes in Cincinnati, Cassandra Al Warda’s Let’s Dance, and Ileana’s Belly Dance Retreat in Pennsylvania. In 2013, Leyla was invited by Sherena to sit on a panel of esteemed judges for her yearly dance competition, Sherena’s Shakedown.

After many years of teaching, Leyla’s classes eventually blossomed into Dance du Soleil Studio in Akron, Ohio, where she built a vibrant dance community and continued to hone her mentoring skills.

In 2013, Leyla was flown to Los Angeles to receive an award from MEDCA (Middle Eastern Dance and Cultural Association) for her contributions to the bellydance community. At this time she also became certified to teach yoga (Yogafit), Pilates and Zumba, which she taught for many years (she continues to teach Pilates).

Leyla had the immense honor of performing for many major dance events over the years, including the Cleveland premiere of the Bellydance Superstars Movie, and as the choreographer and featured performer for musical artists Oojami. In 2015, She took a small group from Dance du Soleil to the Miami Bellydance Convention, where they received acclaim for their Fan Veil Dance, and another group in 2016 to perform in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive, where Leyla was invited to teach a master class called “Jazzy Combos”. In perhaps her most notable role as a soloist, Leyla was chosen to appear as a contestant in the hit Internet reality show Project Bellydance, when she traveled to Palo Alto, CA to compete among top notch dancers from around the world.

Leyla has been the Owner/ Operator of two studios in Akron, and Columbus, Ohio. She has coached countless dancers of all ages over the past 20 plus years who have gone on to win competitions, or become professionals themselves. Most notably, her daughter, Babette Soleil.

In addition to teaching and mentoring her students to achieve their goals, Leyla produced numerous dance shows and events over the years featuring the local belly dance communities in Akron, Cleveland, and Columbus. She has been the Artistic Director for several different versions of her dance company, Dance du Soleil, since 2003.