Hometown: Bellevue.
Year on team: 1st
Star sign: Scorpio
Favorite movie: Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes
Favorite actor/actress: John Travolta/Julia Roberts
Favorie band: John Mayer
Favorite restaurant: Cucina Cucina
Favorite place to go on a date: To a concert or a show
Favorite thing to do in Seattle: To be on a boat on a sunny day or shopping on the Ave
My passions are: Dancing, singing, acting, writing poetry and math
I became a Sonics dancer because ... I love to perform. Dancing is my passion and my favorite sport is basketball.
What's your biggest pet peeve? When I'm trying to get a hold of someone and they don't answer their phone.
Who (dead or alive) would you invite for dinner? Michael Jackson or the orginal Spice Girls (I used to love them when I was younger.)
What are three words to describe you? Independent, dedicated, talented
What's one thing you haven't done but would love to do? Sky dive
If you were on a deserted island what three things would you bring and why? A tent to be my shelter, an endless supply of matches to start fires and a boy, in case I were stuck there for life.
What's the best part about being a Sonics dancer? Getting to perform at every game

Like most members of the Sonics Dance Team, performing comes as second nature for Lea, who is in her first year on the team. She’s been dancing for 16 years – “since I was very, very young”, and also enjoys singing and acting. Despite the abundant dance experience and always being involved in some form of dancing, this is her first job in the field. And so far, she’s having a blast, describing her experience as, “the best dancing thing I’ve ever been involved with.”

The marriage of dance and basketball is particularly apt for Lea, whose favorite sport to watch has always been basketball. It’s little wonder, then, that she cites having one of the best seats in the house courtside as one of the reasons she thoroughly enjoys performing at Sonics home games. Don’t let that obscure the importance of performing in front of thousands of fans. “It’s really fun to perform in front of that many people,” Lea says.

Still, no job is without its downside, and Lea feels that the Dance Team’s intense rehearsals are without question the most difficult part of the job. “We rehearse about twice a week, in between games, and especially when we’re learning new dances, we have to put all our energy and effort into it. So that’s probably the hardest.” Lest we feel she dislikes performing with the team, Lea hastens to add, “But other than that, everything else that we do is just more pleasure than work.”

In addition to her work with the Dance Team, Lea is a full-time student at the University of Washington. There, she plans on eventually majoring in math and minoring in dance to strengthen her dancing resume. On weekends, she helps pass along her dance knowledge to children she teaches dance to. “That occupies most of my time besides the dance team,” Lea says of school and teaching dance.

Because she’s so busy with dance and school, Lea’s time for other interests is limited. She mentions snowboarding as a non-performing hobby, but modestly claims, “I suck really bad.” Nevertheless, it’s unlikely she’d trade her dance team experience for more practice time on the slopes. Lea sums up her dance experience by saying, “It’s really fun and there’s a lot of new experiences.” It doesn’t get much better than that.