CFO - Vilia Bouilly 

Vilia Bouilly is a professional dancer, instructor, choreographer, and arts leader with more than three decades of dance experience and a long-standing commitment to Middle Eastern dance education, performance, and community-building in Southern California.

She is the founder and artistic director of Arabina, a multi-award-winning Middle Eastern dance company that she has directed for more than 15 years. Her work has included long-term professional performance engagements, public and private events throughout Southern California, and the training and development of dancers for both performance and competition. Under her direction, Arabina has earned multiple championship titles.

Vilia is a Salimpour School Level 5 certified and licensed instructor, having completed more than 15 years of intensive study in technique, musicality, cultural context, choreography, performance, and pedagogy. She has taught dancers of varied ages and experience levels, including more than five years of instruction through UC San Diego Recreation, and has presented workshops in the United States and internationally.

Her professional performance background includes multiple appearances with Suhaila Salimpour’s Bal Anat production, with performances in Belgium, New Mexico, Chicago, and California. She also performed in the debut California and New York productions of Jillina’s Bellydance Evolution and spent six years as a principal dancer with Raks el Anwar, a Lebanese folkloric and cabaret dance company.

Her broader dance background includes approximately ten years of training in ballet, tap, and jazz, as well as five years teaching those forms to students of multiple ages and experience levels. This foundation, combined with her extensive Middle Eastern dance training, has shaped a teaching and choreographic approach grounded in strong technique, musicality, cultural context, and thoughtful stage presentation.

Vilia’s artistic work is rooted in respect for the cultural traditions of Southwest Asia, North Africa, and their diasporas while also supporting thoughtful artistic evolution, collaboration, and contemporary expression. Her teaching and choreography place particular emphasis on musical interpretation, finger cymbals, cultural understanding, technical development, and meaningful performance.

As a co-founder of Maqam Arts Alliance, Vilia brings together her experience as an artist, educator, artistic director, and longtime member of the San Diego dance community to help create inclusive performance, educational, and professional-development opportunities for artists and audiences.