Daily Inspiration: Meet Leigh Purtill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leigh Purtill.

Leigh, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began dancing when I was five years old, studying ballet and tap at a small local studio in Connecticut and eventually performing in college and beyond. What interested me more than being on stage, however, was teaching. I have had some amazing teachers in my life: in college, I studied with Karen Dearborn and Terese Freedman and after that, in Boston with Margot Parsons and in New York with Sara Neece. They all had a tremendous influence on me, not only as teachers but mentors. I loved how they taught and when I began teaching on my own, I very consciously tried to impart the wisdom I had learned from them. But it wasn’t until I went to graduate school for film production and then worked as a writer and in movies and television that I could return to teaching with my own nuggets of wisdom. I had to go through a lot on my own, as a dancer and human being, before I felt confident enough to teach others.

My nonprofit ballet company began in 2017, which was about ten years after I had been teaching in Los Angeles, and it arose organically! I had never intended to start a 501(c)(3) company but it was the best decision I could have made. My company has grown from 25 strictly local dancers to a hybrid group of 50 members that are local, all over the country and in Canada. We’ve performed on television twice and at multiple venues around the city and we’ve had tremendous opportunities to do outreach with other nonprofits in an educational context.

With the advent of our remote arm, I’ve even returned to filmmaking: we have created many short videos with our remote dancers and included them in our stage performances as well. It’s been very exciting to see my backgrounds in ballet, film and writing come together.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Prior to the pandemic, it seemed like I was always looking at the numbers of students in my classes and comparing them to other teachers I knew. So in a sense, my biggest challenge as a teacher has been my own self! Comparing my work to others is not productive – every teacher is different, every class is different, every student is different. But when you are starting out, you are desperate to build a following. And you try everything: discounts, bring a friend day, change the title of the class, the time, the level, etc. I would look at other teachers with following and think, how did you do that? How long did it take? Will I ever have a following?

During the pandemic, of course, the challenge was to maintain contact with my students and company members to try to give them a dance experience that was different from an in-person experience. At first, I tried to make my Zoom classes and rehearsals look and act like in-person classes and rehearsals but that was impossible. So stepping back and seeing how I could give them what they needed was eye-opening. Learning new technology and engaging with people in different ways, while they were all going through very difficult times themselves, was worthwhile but also very hard.

Since we have returned from the lockdown, things have been getting better but glitches like mask mandates or vaccine requirements change people’s attitudes. It’s been very hard to try to anticipate whether I will have large classes or small ones from week to week and whether I will have audiences in the theater for my shows. Patience is something I continue to work on and I try to temper my expectations, especially when I’m excited. I have learned never to assume anything.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a teacher, a choreographer and a novelist and I like to believe they all influence each other.

As a teacher, I often create class combinations that ask students to reflect on the story they are telling with their movement and on performance quality for an invisible audience. I enjoy working with my music so it enhances the class combinations and gives the dancers characters to express.

As a choreographer, I do a lot of teaching. Most of the dancers in my company have never danced professionally and they are all at very different levels so many times I am teaching them steps they don’t yet know.

And as a writer, I create my classes and choreography with story in mind. Everything stems from the initial story. Every movement comes from character and their motivation.

My ballets are known for being unusual stories: my goal is to put on the stage characters and stories that are relatable to the audience members as well as the dancers themselves. So I have zombies and vampires and giant spiders in “Sweet Sorrow, A Zombie Ballet,” my sequel to Romeo & Juliet. I use same-gendered partnering and relationships that reflect a rainbow of romance. I have a ballet about time-travel and science fiction and fantasy and another about a steampunk circus. I like stories that are different and make people laugh and smile and think. I don’t want to be another company that does Swan Lake – yet all of my work is classically based.

What are your plans for the future?
I would love to do more of everything! I want my company to continue with its hybrid model so I can have dancers all over the world. I enjoy on-stage performances and also outreach to community events and groups.

As a teacher, I would like to use Zoom more to create classes that bring even more dancers from other places outside LA and now that we are able to travel more easily, I envision doing ballet workshops and retreats in parts of the country where my remote students live.

My biggest idea for the future? Owning a theater and studio space where I can do education outreach, teach my own classes, and have rehearsals and performances for my company.

Pricing:

• Single drop in class: $17-20
• Show tickets: $15-35

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LeighPurtillBallet.com
• Instagram: @leighpurtill
• Facebook: @clpurtill
• Twitter: @LPBalletCompany
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLQXGg8Sv0lxMxqtDuJzgQ
• Other: https://www.leighpurtillballetcompany.org/

Image Credits
Rawl Paredes Katie Ging Kathleen Lantos