Victoria Leigh is a former soloist with American
Ballet Theatre, The National Ballet of Canada, and "First
Dancer" (principal dancer) in Kiel, Germany. She trained
in Florida by Georges Milenoff, and also JoAnna Kneeland, (who
trained her to teach). Further teacher training was included
in her work with Ruth Petrinovic, and she began her full-time
teaching career as Assistant Professor of Dance at the University
of Oklahoma. During the ten years at OU, she performed in a number
of ballets and modern works, and choreographed musicals, operas
and operettas, and ballets. She taught guest classes and choreographed
frequently for the Bartlesville Ballet, and was a guest teacher
for a number of other schools and colleges around the country,
as well as several College Dance and Theatre Conventions. She
also studied music and kinesiology, developed the pedagogy program,
and team-taught kinesiology for dancers (with the help of the
HPER department).

Victoria Leigh in a (studio)
performance shot.
A move to Florida to teach
for Ruth Petrinovic and her Academy of Performing Arts in Ft.
Lauderdale was followed by six years of running Leigh-Franklin
Academy, with her partner, James Franklin. During these years
they trained a number of dancers who have performed professionally,
including two who are currently principal dancers with Houston
Ballet. She also taught for Ballet Florida and The Palm Beach
Ballet Center before settling in Washington, DC in 1993 where
she currently teaches primarily the upper division classes at
the School of the Washington Ballet, as well as company class
for the Washington Ballet.

Victoria Leigh at the barre
in a studio at the Washington School of Ballet.