Kim Leary (Alexia) is a belly dance performer, choreographer and instructor in Central New Jersey. Kim Leary’s (Alexia) dance accomplishments include teaching both credit and non-credit dance at Princeton University. She is Co-Artistic Director of Groove Merchant Drum & Dance Ensemble and Co-Director of her school, The Drum & Dance Learning Center in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Ms. Leary has performed at numerous prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center, The Ohio Theatre (SOHO), CAMI Hall (NYC), DanceSpace (NYC), FIT (NYC), The Evolving Arts Theatre (NYC), The Black Box Theatre (NJ), as well as at many colleges, universities, and festivals as a soloist and with her own dance company, SaZ Dance Theatre, Jamila Salimpour's Bal Anat and Dalia Carella's DNA Project. She also teaches at Rutgers University and Middlesex County College.

As an artist-in-residence in various schools throughout the state, her arts-in-education training is from Union County's CATALYST Initiative, Artsgenesis, and the Kennedy Center (DC) through the New Brunswick Cultural Center. Kim holds a certification in Training & Development as well as in Multiple Intelligences and the Arts from Kean University. She is a Level 2 Certified Dancer and has been training in the Suhaila Salimpour Format since 2000. In 2008 Kim became certified Level One in the Jamila Salimpour Dance Format and earned a Level One Certification in Sahra Saeeda's Journey Through Egypt Program. Kim received a dance scholarship award from Dance New Jersey and was voted New Jersey's Favorite Belly Dance Teacher in 2008.

Kim has studied dance for most of her life and has received extensive training in jazz, ballet, tap, contemporary, Middle Eastern, Turkish and Afro-Caribbean dance. Kim has spent a significant amount of time with dance masters such as Tasha, Elena Lentini, Roberta Koch and Azsmara of SaZ Dance Theatre, Sabah Nissan, Dalia Carella, Artemis Mourat, Suhaila Salimpour, Jamila Salimpour and Richard Gonzalez all of whom have had great influence on her dance.

Philosophy: “Strong foundation of dance movement, belly dance technique, musical understanding and the creative process are the things that drive me. Applying all of this to any and all stylizations is my philosophy. My hope is that each time you see me dance you learn another facet of what is going on creatively for me at that particular moment. And for my students, that each explores their own path and has their own voice with a strong base and ongoing process of growth to support that.” - Kim Leary (Alexia)