Yillah Natalia started her dance career at Susan Angle's children's studio in Burke, Virginia. Her early studies included Lima, Peru's Ballet School for Girls in 1981 - where she was commended by a visiting committee from London's Royal Ballet Academy - jazz and gymnastics in Costa Rica, and training in various aspects of theatre, including costume design and choreography for the stage in the U.S.

On a break from completing her B.A. in Art at both Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason University, she visited Morocco and fell in love with the dances she saw being performed in the casbah cabarets. Inspired by this, she signed up to study Raqs Sharqi immediately upon her return to America.

Among her many teachers in this field, she credits Jaka, Artemis, Delilah, and Laurel Victoria Gray as being the most influential on her Middle Eastern style and technique. The discipline she obtained from her Russian classical ballet training also informs her approach to movement.

Yillah was a member of Silk Road Dance Company (a Joy of Motion Dance Center Resident Arts Partner) from 2001-2003, during which time she was featured as a soloist. In 2005, Yillah founded U Street Caravan, a Raqs Sharqi/Fusion company. The group has established a doting East Coast fan base, having performed locally at several venues, including American University and the Dance DC Festival, and at the Rakkasah East Festival in New Jersey.

Yillah has been a featured dancer at the Embassy of Egypt, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and many other stages and living rooms, and can be seen performing regularly at Marrakesh Palace restaurant in Dupont.