About

Leslie A. Yancey is a native of Brooklyn, New York City. She received her BA from Oberlin College, a double Degree in Inter-Arts (specializing in Modern Dance) and French in 1980. She then joined Calck Hook Dance Theatre Company in Paris, France where she lived and worked for 2 years. She has performed in the States, Europe, and South America, working with numerous choreographers, directors and performance artists.
She formed her own company,Yanceydance-Theatre in 1990 which she was artistic director of for several years and received favorable reviews by The New York Times for her 3 NYC seasons of her choreographic works, plus numerous showcases. The work involved interdisciplinary performance integrating film, dance, voice, and music. Her work has been presented by many different venues in New York City. She was awarded an Artist Residency at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, The Harkness Choreographers space grant at Purchase College, and the Joyce Soho presents the Salon Project Series, amongst other awards. She has taught in both public and private schools for over 30 years throughout the NYC metropolitan area as well as in Europe and New Mexico. She has taught and done several Artist Residencies in Elementary, Middle, High School, plus adult levels. She also has taught several Teacher Training workshops in: How to use Creative Movement/Dance & Academics in the Classroom. In New Mexico, Santa Fe, she trained, worked, and taught for the National Dance Institute of New Mexico (NDI-NM). More recently she lives in Montana and is teaching Afrofusion Dance, choreographing for theater and music theater productions (both adult and children), and has begun teaching Creative Movement & Literacy programs in the public schools with support from the Montana Arts Council and PTA.
She comes from a background of Modern dance (Limon and Hawkins), Performance Art and Theater, and West African Dance. She is a trained Reiki Professional and a Polarity Therapist A.P.P.