Today we’d like to introduce you to Leigh Ann Moya.
Hi Leigh Ann, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Leigh Ann Moya, and in many ways, I feel like I have been dancing my entire life. Some of my earliest memories are of listening to music with my family and dancing in the aisles of H-E-B. Music and movement have always been at the center of who I am.
I grew up in Edna, Texas, where my family still lives, with family also in nearby Victoria. From a young age, my life revolved around the arts. I took dance classes, and when I wasn’t dancing, I was usually in the band hall practicing my French horn. I loved both sides of it—the physical expression of dance and the music that made me feel completely alive.
That passion eventually led me to Sam Houston State University, where I earned my degree in Music Education and Performance. At the time, I didn’t really believe there was a place for me in the professional dance world, so I followed a path that felt more practical. I became a band director and spent several years teaching junior high and high school band.
I married my college sweetheart, and we eventually moved to the NASA area of Houston. Together, we opened our own business, Furia Training Center, a mixed martial arts gym. Not long after, we became parents to our daughter and son. Life became very full very quickly, and when I stepped away from teaching music to focus on our children and our growing business, I realized I still desperately needed an artistic outlet.
That led me to photography. I became a wedding and family photographer and was fortunate enough to build a successful photography business. However, my vision eventually became a problem. I was born with glaucoma and currently suffer from vision loss because of it. Glaucoma has seriously impacted my life today., but it only motivates me to keep going
So, I taught yoga and cardio kickboxing at our gym, so movement and creativity were still very much a part of my life.
Then, completely unexpectedly, belly dance found me.
We hired a Zumba instructor at our gym who happened to be a belly dancer. I was immediately fascinated. I started taking classes, and it felt like something clicked into place. Belly dance was everything I had been missing: culture, music, rhythm, history, expression and movement all woven together. It entered my life at exactly the right time.
I started dancing again and quickly became involved with dance troupes, performing at festivals, restaurants, private events and other venues. What started as something I was simply doing for myself grew into a second career and a completely new chapter of my life.
Then came another unexpected turn. I was invited to teach belly dance at a circus school. That invitation introduced me to the world of aerial arts, and I fell in love with it almost immediately.
My background in dance, yoga and fitness turned out to be the perfect foundation for aerial arts. I discovered that I loved the combination of strength, flexibility, musicality, artistry and the challenge of learning something that felt completely new. I became especially passionate about aerial hoop, or lyra, and aerial hammock.
Today, I am a professional belly dancer and aerialist performing throughout the Houston area at restaurants, clubs, festivals, private events and with entertainment companies. I am fortunate to work with some of Houston’s top entertainment productions, and I perform with Bella Donna and Shunyata belly dance troupes.
Looking back, my journey makes much more sense than it did while I was living it. Music led me to education. Education led me to teaching. Family led me to entrepreneurship. Photography gave me another creative outlet. Belly dance brought me back to movement, and circus opened an entirely new world of possibilities.
None of those chapters were wasted. Each one gave me something I needed for the next.
Today, I am still a business owner alongside my husband, and we continue to operate Furia Training Center in Dickinson, Texas. I am also a proud mom. My daughter is a member of the Orange Pride Dance Team at my alma mater, Sam Houston State University, and my son is a serious martial artist and black belt who also plays percussion in his school band.
In a funny way, I feel like I have come full circle. Music and movement were there at the very beginning, and they are still at the heart of my life today. I may not have known exactly where I was going when I was that little girl dancing in the aisles of H-E-B, but somehow, every twist and turn brought me back to exactly where I was meant to be.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the biggest challenges I have faced in my life is something I have had since birth. I was born with glaucoma, an eye disease that is much more commonly diagnosed later in life than at birth.
Growing up with glaucoma meant that taking eye drops every day and wearing glasses were simply part of my normal routine. For many years, I was able to manage it, but eventually the eye drops stopped being effective. I reached a point where I needed surgery on both eyes to lower the pressure and protect my vision.
After the surgeries, I no longer felt confident driving, especially around Houston. Eventually, I made the difficult decision to stop driving altogether. That has probably been one of the biggest obstacles I have faced, and it is something I continue to navigate every day.
Not being able to drive can make life complicated when you are a business owner, performer and someone who is constantly going places. Thankfully, we live in a time when technology has made some things much easier. Zoom has allowed me to continue teaching, Uber helps me get where I need to go, and most importantly, I have an incredible husband, family and group of friends who are always willing to help me when I need it.
It isn’t always easy, and there are definitely moments when I wish things were different. But I have never wanted my vision loss to define what I am capable of doing. I have had to learn to adapt, ask for help when I need it, and find different ways to do the things I love.
There are certainly things I can’t do the way I used to, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop doing them. I am still dancing. I am still performing. I am still doing aerial arts. I am still running a business and living a very full life.
It can be hard, but I refuse to let it stop me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Professional Belly dancer. I teach and perform all around Houston. I am a circus artist and aerial artist. I perform in local festivals and private events on the Aerial hoop and Aerial sling/hammock. I am a certified yoga teacher and flexibility coach. I love contortion and take extreme flexibility very seriously. Contortionis the ultimate expression of the body and nervous system.
How do you think about luck?
I don’t know if I really believe in luck. It is either preparation or lack of preparation. It is networking and it is always trying your best even when no one is looking. Luck comes to those who create their own “lucky” circumstances.
Pricing:
- Please message me for pricing
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/leighannmoya/about
- Instagram: @Leigh_ann337
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moyabellydance
- Twitter: none
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leighannmoya4074
- Yelp: none
