Leslie O’Neill 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 9×22, 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.
