A multiple-award winning Gypsy style and Vintage Orientale middle eastern dancer, Gilana has been dancing since the age of 4. Extensively trained in ballet, she spent her early years in a dance studio and on the stage as a ballet, folk, and modern dancer and instructor.

Gilana began her middle eastern dance studies in 2003. She has studied extensively with Etana, Elise Bryant, Audrey LaRue, Melody Anderson and Halima; and has taken lessons and workshops with instructors too numerous to mention.

In addition to teaching bellydance, Gilana currently performs as a member of the Emerald Rain Bellydance Company and as a solo performer around the Puget Sound area. She is also the director of her student troupe Gypsy Oasis.