A Northern Virginia native, Leanne started her training under Susan Blazy at the Metropolitan Ballet School. She later studied at Virginia Ballet, where she trained under former Ballets Russes dancers Oleg Tupine and Tania Rousseau. Leanne continued her training at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School, where she graduated cum laude with a BFA in Dance Pedagogy. There Leanne studied Music Theory, Dance Administration, Kinesiology, Human Development, Dance History, Music in the Classroom, Composition and Dance Production under the guidance of Peggy Lyman, Peter O’Brian, Alla Nikitina, and Hilda Morales in. She performed with American Ballet Theatre in The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet and in 2003 was the Assistant Director of the children’s division in Kirk Peterson’s Nutcracker. Leanne was a company dancer for four years with Manassas Ballet Theatre, performing many soloist roles. A founding dancer of Ballet Fantastique (Eugene, OR), Leanne has appeared in Oregon, Washington, and internationally in soloist and principal roles. While in Oregon Leanne started the largest adult ballet program in Eugene and received the prestigious Lane County Cultural Coalition grant to teach underprivileged children in Mapleton, Oregon. She has choreographed original pieces and restaged many of the classics, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, The Dream and Alice in Wonderland. Many of her students have gone on to acclaimed summer programs and Universities.