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 
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
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 
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 
"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 
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.
