LEBC Board of Directors

Leslie has been a part of the ballet world for most of her life. She began taking ballet lessons and performing in dance concerts at the age of 4. At the age of 12, she began her professional training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet until graduating from high school. She continued her training at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, where she was a ballet major until the age of 21. She performed in many ballet and opera productions at IU, including the Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, The Barber of Seville, and Die Fledermaus to name a few. But she enjoyed touring with IU Ballet Theater most of all, doing lecture demonstrations at local schools and community venues, foreshadowing her future career in education. 

Leslie is currently employed at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine as an Instructional Designer and Instructor in the Master of Science and Doctoral Programs in Medical Education. 

Apart from being a medical educator, Leslie has been a ballet instructor for many years. At Allegheny College, she taught the Upper-Level Ballet course and choreographed several ballet pieces for their Winter and Spring Dance Concerts. Leslie follows an authentic learning approach by creating communities of learning in the classroom and learning environments in the community. This approach pertain to both medical and dance education and is the reason why she is so committed to LEBC’s Community Nutcracker.

Finally, as a former “dance mom”, Leslie enrolled her only daughter, Emma, in several summer ballet intensives over the years from Pittsburgh Youth Ballet to Mercyhurst North East and the former Lake Erie Ballet School. Leslie even did a brief stint in 2018 as the Interim Director at LEB. Needless to say, Leslie’s life-time experiences as a ballet student, performer, teacher, choreographer, mother, and director have prepared her well for her role as the LEBC Board President.