Daleela Morad

Daleela Morad has been teaching the time-honored art of the belly dance for over 20 years and performing for almost 30 years. She is the recipient of the prestigious "Elly Award" which honors outstanding achievement in the Dramatic Arts. She has trained with various master teachers in Egypt, the motherland of the belly dance. Daleela holds a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and a Minor in Music. In her classes, books and DVDs, she fuses her expertise in both psychology and dance to present belly dance as therapy for body, mind and soul.

Daleela started belly dancing as a freshman at the University of California, Davis. This ancient art helped her balance a heavy academic workload with a low impact physical activity that she soon discovered was more than meets the eye. She discovered that this dance form was also emotionally and psychologically therapeutic, because it helped to counteract the masculinizing effects of what is still in essence a patriarchal culture. Daleela discovered the opportunity to connect to her feminine curves, a sensuality she didn't know she possessed, and to an ancient past when women danced with other women in a culture that nurtured sisterhood. This brought considerable balance and fun to the otherwise stressful effects of living in a fast paced world.