Meet the Director

Leyla Boissonnade

Director & Owner

As a well-loved and respected dance educator in the Bay Area for over 12 years, Leyla Boissonnade wanted to create a school that was more than just a dance training program. In 2012, she founded Bay Area Dance School to extend her love of dance to young dancers by offering a healthy, fun and creative learning environment for serious young dancers. Teaching children of all ages and engaging with them has always been her passion.

Having grown up locally, Ms. Leyla was trained in ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance ballet curriculum and passed her Advanced level of major examinations. She has also trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, contemporary and acrobatics. Her choreography has received numerous awards for its creativity and excellence. She has coached students for several regional and national dance titles for many organizations, including Youth America Grand Prix and Dance Masters of America. Her students have attended summer intensive programs including The Juilliard School, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Kirov Ballet Academy of Washington, Joffrey Ballet, Nederlands Dance Theater, Ballet Austin, Ballet West, The Nutmeg Conservatory, and Boston Conservatory.

Ms. Leyla graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology and minors in dance and education and also attended UCLA Graduate School of Education for a preliminary credential in secondary English. She is excited to share her love of dance with young dancers and their families.