2022 DANCER FELLOW
photo by Canaan Mattson
Leila Awadallah ليلى عوض الله (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker based in
Minneapolis and partly Beirut, Lebanon. Dancing with a body of Palestinian, Arab-American, Sicilian, and mixed Mediterranean ways and waves. Born on Dakota, Lakota land near the Thick Wooded River (Sioux Falls, SD) she moved to Minneapolis, Mni Sota in 2012 to pursue a BFA in Dance at the University of Minnesota, and found home here.
Leila is the creator, choreographer, and teacher of Body Watani dance project/practice in
collaboration with Noelle Awadallah. As a member of Ananya Dance Theatre (2014 - 2019), she trained in Yorchha, toured Nationally / Internationally, and was impacted by ADT’s commitment to intersecting dance and social justice. She is a founder of Kelvin Wailey (2015-2019), and performed works by Paula Mann, Leyya Tawil, Karla Grotting, Slo Dance, Emma Marlar,
HIJACK, Emily Gastineau, Morgan Thorsen, and Paulina Olowska. She lives and works part-time
in Beirut where she’s a collaborator with Theater of Women of the Camp.
Leila received multiple fellowships: Jerome Hill (2021-2023), Daring Dances (2019) and
Springboard 20/20 (2018). She has been an artist in residence at Hinge (MN), Arab American
National Museum (MI), Hammana Artist House and Amalgam (Lebanon), and the Camargo
Foundation (France). Her works/research received support from National Performance
Network, MSAB, and Goethe. She presented work at the Cedar Tree Project, MIZNA, and RAWI
Arab Lit conference. Leila received a MN SAGE Award for Outstanding Design (2016) for the film “Reflections on Ice: Climate Change in Peru” and Best Performance from the Lebanese National Theater (2019).