Biography

Laith Sami born on 25 October 1975 in Baghdad and came to England in 1979.  From there the family shifted to Sweden when Sami was about 4-5 years of age. At the tender age of 13 he discovered his passion for dance and a year later was already teaching Hip Hop at a youth Club and his method of teaching brought in students from ages of 6 to 18. In no time at all he had 150 students.    

Due to his abilities and expertise of doing Physical Theater, at the age of 21 he went on to be  part of a gymnastics team and they became the champions at national level.

But London was his destiny so he came back and studied acting and dancing Salsa at Hammersmith – West London College. He went on to become a British Salsa Champion in 2003, taught salsa in Europe and represented UK at the L.A Congress.  

Diablo Dance Company

With all this behind his belt he started The Diablo Dance Company. The Dance Company is a showcase for his dynamic and innovative choreography, which blends the passion and energy of Salsa with the demanding body technique of Hop Hop and Jazz.  Sami has brought together a talented team of the hottest up-and-coming dancers in London, each dancing Salsa with a unique style influenced by their respective backgrounds - Ballet, Jazz, Argentine Tango, Contemporary Dance, Imperial Ballroom & Latin American and even Martial Arts!

Sami taught and helped the dancers to develop their dancing to a higher level and Diablo became two-time Salsa Team European Champions representing UK.  He went on to receive a Lifetime Salsa Achievement award in 2007.

Directing

During this time dance was not his only interest. Sami's love of acting, TV and film production led him to complete a City and Guilds diploma in Media Techniques, covering all aspects of production.   Sami sparked a passion for directing.  He wrote, produced and directed 'Land of The Apes The Musical' which ran at London's Riverside Studios.  In addition he has directed three music videos and eight short films from Drama to Comedy to Horror to Dance, each very different from the other. One of them – Dance Your Way – was at the Cannes Film festival 2009 and at the Cyprus Film festival 2009 in the Short Film category. He now has over 16 years experience working in television, theatre and dance.  To date has appeared in 23 short films as an actor.

Sami is looking for new challenges and is excited by the prospect of transferring his acting, choreography and directing skills to feature length film.  With all this passion, talent and experience Sami now is taking that step forward with his first feature Film – Blood Dance -  which he has written and is going to Direct.