Troupe director, Leslie Yamada, began belly dancing in 1978. She has performed with "The Powers of Belly Dance", "Mayiahs Kinzas", and "Troupe Hadara". She also performed with a Polynesian dance group for a short time under the directorship of Heidi Anderson. Leslie has attended numerous workshops in the Northwest that featured cabaret, tribal and urban tribal styles, veil technique, yoga and advanced choreography. She received her dance teaching certification from Alwiah in Wenatchee.

     Cleopatra's Veil Belly Dance Troupe formed in January 2003 when Leslie's students wanted to start performing. Now Cleopatra's Veil provides family rated performances for community and fund raising events at no charge. The dancers are selected from the intermediate level dance class. Performing in public gives them the opportunity to experience the joy of sharing their love of dance with others. They also get the incentive to perfect the quality of their performances and costumes.

     Above all else, Cleopatra's Veil is about having a lot of fun. Fun in class (while sneaking in a pretty good workout), fun during performances (while boosting confidence in ourselves), and fun outside of dance - when we get together for dinner and video night.