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Idalis

Idalis

What's in a name? For MTV VJ, Idalis(De Leon), it's the greek word for "wise" - "streetwise" in her case, being a Latino girl from the Bronx. But being tough is only an entertainment world survival tactic for this model, actress, singer, dancer, writer, horseback riding VJ. Idalis spent her formative years between the Bronx and a Jewish/Italian working class neighborhood in Brooklyn. Although she claims to have been a goody-goody in high school, and too introverted to land the lead roles in school plays, her desire to be on stage won out. It also helped to have a father who laughed at all her jokes. She went on to earn several lead roles in off-Broadway shows including the title role in "The Greening of Rosita" and "Mandance," a comedy about Idalis a group of teenagers set in the Bronx. She now also finds it rewarding to perform in children's theatre productions. Idails first appeared on MTV as on third of the sultry dance music trio SEDUCTION. Their platinum album spawned three top ten hits including the gold singles "It Takes Two" and "Heart Beat." The videos showed off Idalis' modelsque Idalis figure and professional dance skills but fail to show her love for Latin and ballroom dancing, something she learned at a young age from her aunt, a salsa dancing champion.

Topping Idalis' list of favorite artists are Tevin Campbell, Chante Moore, Zhane, Salt n' Pepa, Arrested Development, and Lenny Kravitz. She Idalis considers herself somewhat of a shoe junkie and says a personal assistant and time are two luxuries she wishes she could afford. She enjoys writing, especially music, and prefers reading the works of her favorite playwrights like Tennessee Williams over trashy novels. She sees learning to play the piano as her next big challenge and hopes it won't take ten years to learn chopsticks. The people Idalis admires most are strong Latino women who have Idalis "made it" namely Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera and her mother. Profoundly aware of the social problems young women in her community face, Idalis hopes her example and work will help give back to these women a sense of direction, self-esteem and hope for a productive future. Idalis says working for MTV is her dream job and intends to stretch her fifteen minutes Idalis of fame into at least twenty. With her sense of humor, natural on-air charisma and ability to mingle with everyone from the artists formerly known as Prince to the Queen of England, MTV is more than willing to give her twenty -- to life.