Lilia Leon is a passionate dance artist working in the fields of dance performance, education and choreography. Ms. Leon grew up in Mexico City where she trained extensively in ballet (Royal Academy of Dance), and jazz. Her growing interest in modern dance brought her to Toronto in 2001. She obtained a B.A. in Dance from York University in 2004, and subsequently enrolled in the Professional Training Program at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. While a student at the School of TDT, Leon’s artistic growth was inspired by working with notable choreographers such as Peggy Baker, Peter Chin, Danny Grossman, D. A. Hoskins, Karen Jamieson, Ted Robinson and Julia Sasso amongst many others.

From 2006 to 2010 Ms. Leon was a dancer, teacher and choreographer with MataDanZe, a dance-theatre collective whose mission is to empower women and their communities through movement and activism. As an independent dance artist Lilia has worked with Canadian and international artist including Penny Couchie, Jasmyn Fyffe, Eroca Nicols,  Carlos Rivera (Mexico) and Alejandro Ronceria (Colombia). In Summer 2010 she attended the Indigenous Dance Residency at the Banff Centre in Alberta to train with acclaimed artists including Neil Ieremia (New Zealand), Marie Claude Rodrigue (Montreal) and Jock Soto (New York).

Lilia has deepened her love for dance by sharing it with others through teaching for the past five years. She has taught ballet, creative movement and contemporary dance to children, youth and adults at different schools and studios in Toronto including YMCA- GTA, Ontario School of Ballet, Martha Hicks School of Ballet and Kaeja d’Dance -EXPRESS DANCE in the Toronto District School Board. Ms. Leon is a Royal Academy of Dance- Registered Teacher and is currently on faculty at Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement.