Leah Palmer Aycock
Leah Palmer Aycock
Ballet Instructor
Leah grew up in Clinton, NC and started her ballet training at Greenville Civic Ballet in Greenville, NC and Infinity Ballet Conservatory in Apex, NC. She received the bulk of her ballet training at Virginia School of the Arts, in Lynchburg, VA, a residential high school dance conservatory, where she continued her classical ballet training. At VSA, she had the pleasure of dancing under the direction of the renowned Petrus Bosman, Tyrone Brooks, and Adam Sage and performing for Dominique Angel, Kathy Brenner, Christopher Huggins, and Lorraine Graves. Leah was consistently cast in soloist roles, including Snow Queen and Dewdrop in The Nutcracker. During her high school career, she attended several pre-professional summer programs including at the Rock school for Dance Education, Boston Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Carolina Ballet where she had the opportunity to study with renown dancers and choreographers including Mellissa Hayden, Robert Weiss, Frank Smith, Dayna Fox, Debra Austin, and many others.
Leah is a graduate of Elon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance performance and choreography and a Bachelor of Science in Dance Science. Upon graduating Elon, Leah taught ballet and jazz curriculum at Burlington Academy of Dance for two years. She then pursued her graduate degree at East Carolina University where she received a Doctor of Physical therapy. Currently, Leah resides in Clinton with her husband, working as a Physical therapist and occasionally teaching ballet to all ages, allowing her to keep dance in her life and to share her knowledge and love for classical ballet.