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Laial Farah with the Madhuri Bollywood Dancers performing a choreography to the song "Kajrare" from
the movie "Bunty Aur Bably"on the program "La Gala" on Televisión Canaria, aired 1/26/09.

Laial began dancing at a very early age through rhythmic gymnastics and the style favored by her family--Flamenco.
Her grandfather was from Seville, the center of Flamenco dance, and her mother danced Flamenco and Sevillanas,
influencing Laial all through her formative years and her four years of formal study as a teenager. Later, she took
hip-hop and funk, and attended the Insular School of Theatre of Cabildo de Tenerife where she studied the theater
arts.

About Our Star
Laial Farah comes to us from Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands of Spain off the coast of Morocco. She is a leading
dance instructor, performer, choreographer and producer in her country, with a focus in the styles of Oriental Dance
and Bollywood, the dance style made famous by the vivid, passionate, grand-scale phenomenon that is the Indian
film industry. She is the artistic director of the first Bollywood troupe in the Canary Islands, the Madhuri Bollywood
Dancers. Laial regularly travels the length of the islands and beyond, teaching and performing her two primary styles
both as a solo artist and with the Madhuri Dancers at festivals, events and on television programs. Currently, the
group is preparing to perform at Bollymadrid 2010, the most prestigious Bollywood festival in Spain.

Throughout her training in Oriental Dance, she received
advanced degrees as an instructor through the academies
of Claudia Cenci and Luciano Galiani in Madrid, as
supported by the International Center of Dance of
UNESCO, and she continues to learn under as many
different teachers as possible, hosting festivals with
nationally and internationally renowned dancers on a regular
basis. Some of these instructors include Mahmoud Reda,
Tamalyn Dallal, Jillina, Sadie Marquardt, Isidora Bushkovski,
Virginia Méndez, Laila Rangel, Nigma, Anisah, Danahana,
Samia Yasbek, and Alba Hayal.

Her instruction in Bollywood has come from Mistri, Jai Hari Kaur, Salomé and Sheri. Their diverse knowledge has
added many flavours to Laial's choreographies and teaching, including Bhangra and Dhandia dances, as well as
influences of the different religious and classic Indian dances such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi. Laial
constantly works to improve and recycle her knowledg. Her choreographic interpretations are inspired by the lyrics of
the song and the movie from which it comes, giving depth and originality to her dances.

As a performer, Laial started out in the Gulsham Ballet under Anisa Aysel. Soon after, she began her career as a solo
Oriental dance artist and was hired to perform at prominent hotels and nightclubs, in addition to being a regular
dancer for the Turkish restaurants Istanbul and Capadokya in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This experience branched into
the realms of stage performance, instruction, direction and production, where she was able to fully utilize her training
in theater and the widely varied dance forms under her belt. She has been a guest artist in European shows, and
produces her own annual festival, Arabian Bellynights.

In 2008, she produced Sands of the East, a benefit for the Women's Association for Breast Cancer of Tenerife
(ÁMATE). Located at the Auditorio de Tenerife, the island's most prominent theater, the event was the first of its
kind on Tenerife, highly acclaimed for its elegance and beautiful staging. Laial continues to donate her time to
ÁMATE, offering classes to affected women and working toward their complete physical and psychological recovery.
Additionally, she collaborates with The Court of Cultures, an association which works to develop sociocultural
integration of the immigrants in the local environment. They use dance as tool of connection between cultures to help
them learn to live together peacefully, and to eliminate rejection and xenophobia.

Laial Farah continually searches for new endeavors in which to expose the various Dances of the East to ever
broadening audiences, and is coming this September for her first time to teach and perform in the United States!

CLICK HERE for a full schedule of our weekend event with Laial Farah, including workshops, parties and shows!

Laial Farah's website: www.laialfarah.com