Bio.
Yillah started her dance career at Susan Angle's children's studio in Burke, Virginia at the age of three. Other early studies included Lima, Perú's Ballet School for Girls in 1981 - where Yillah was commended by a visiting committee from London's Royal Ballet Academy - jazz and gymnastics in Costa Rica, and training in various aspects of theatre, including costume design and choreography for the stage, as part of the Lake Braddock Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Before her studies began at Virginia Commonwealth University (eventually she would graduate from George Mason University with a B.A. in Art [Studio]), Yillah took a solo trip to Europe, roughing it for two months. On a whim while traveling in the south of Spain, she hopped a ferry to Morocco with no guidebook or plan and ended up falling in love with Tangier. Her desire to live as the locals do kept her in the casbah, and that's where she first encountered belly dancers. Hooked and mesmerized by their movements and power, she was determined to learn this ancient trade upon her return to America.
Among her many teachers in this field, Yillah credits Jaka, Artemis, Delilah, and Laurel Victoria Gray as being the most influential on her Middle Eastern style and technique. The discipline she obtained from her Russian classical ballet training also heavily informs her approach to movement.
Yillah was a member of Silk Road Dance Company from 2001-2003, during which time she was featured as a soloist. She has been a featured dancer at the Embassy of Egypt, the Dance DC Festival, and many other stages and living rooms and can be seen dancing regularly at Marrakesh Palace restaurant in Dupont Circle.
photo by Lina Jang © 2008