Leslie Arbogast

A student of various genres of dance since the age of five, Leslie Arbogast has fused performing arts with anthropology, therapy, and social activism into her adult years. Leslie has received two Bachelor’s degrees, one in Public Relations from Ohio Dominican University, and one in Cultural Anthropology from Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri. In May of 2015, she received a Graduate Certificate in Native American Studies from Montana State University. Leslie has traveled to Guinea, Ghana, Botswana, Brazil, and Sri Lanka to conduct field research related to Dance, Anthropology and Ethnomusicology.

Leslie moved from Columbus, Ohio, where she trained with former Alvin Ailey dancer and Master Dunham Technique Instructor April Berry, to the Saint Louis area in 2003, to train with several Dunham Technique instructors and pursue a certification to teach the technique. In August of 2010, she received her certificate from the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification. For eight years, Leslie served the Saint Louis community by teaching Dance Anthropology and Dunham Technique courses and organizing performances in the local Juvenile Detention Center, through Prison Performing Arts. She conducted movement workshops for the Missouri Historical Society and volunteer taught Dance Therapy workshops at the Independence Center, a facility for those recovering from mental illness and behavioral disorders. Leslie trained both professional and non-professional dancers at The City Studio Dance Center, in beginning through advanced Dunham Technique and Pilates. She trained and performed with Saint Louis-based Dunham Technique companies, Innervision Dance Theater and Duntech Dance Theater, as well as Banyan Dance Theater, a company dedicated to Afro-Haitian and Afro-Cuban cultural dance and music. Leslie’s teaching experiences are not limited to the Saint Louis area, as she has participated as a guest instructor during dance and Capoeira events in Oregon, California, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Arizona and Florida, as well as in fascinating corners of the world, such as Muscat, Oman and Serra Grande, Brazil.

Leslie is currently living in Carlsbad, California, and has launched her own Fair Trade jewelry designing business, entitled “Destination Earth”. She is also writing performance reviews for both traditional and contemporary Indigenous dance companies, as well as traveling and teaching the work of the legendary Katherine Dunham.