Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Leslie O'Neill - Season 10, Episode 122

Leslie has danced professionally since 2004. She began her formal
training at age 18 at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay
and received her BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota in
2003. Leslie was a founding member of Black Label Movement from
2005 – 2009, and joined nationally acclaimed repertory company
Zenon Dance in 2006. She built a rich and diverse performance
career at Zenon until its final performance in 2019 when the
company closed its doors. Leslie has performed as a guest artist
with the Minnesota Opera, Jon Ferguson’s Theatre Forever, Shapiro
and Smith Dance, Tamara Ober, Paula Mann, Maggie Bergeron, Laura
Osterhaus/SLO Dance, and James Everest/Wavelets Creative in
collaboration with the seasonal “Soundgardens” in outdoor spaces.
Presently she is in collaboration with Mathew Janczewski/ARENA
Dances and Berit Ahlgren/Honeyworks for works to premiere summer
2023. 

Leslie has earned recognition for her excellence in performance
with Sage Award Nominations in 2009 and 2016 and she is the
recipient of a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers in 2010. Leslie’s
choreography has been supported by Red Eye Theater, Metropolitan
Regional Arts Council, the Walker Arts Center, Minnesota State
Arts Board, and Bryant Lake Bowl’s 9x22, where she most recently
featured her latest solo project.  Her teaching experience
spans all ages, public schools, rural dance studios and
intensives. She completed teacher training with Dance for
Parkinson’s Disease at the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York
City in 2018, and has volunteered within her community to serve
as grant and fellowship review panelist for McKnight Foundation,
MSAB, MRAC, and the Sage Award Committee.