Meet Leslie

I refer to my work as presence in performance, meaning that presence is the simplicity of being in the present moment, and performance is everything we do. Every action and activity we are involved with from thinking, having a conversation, taking a walk, cooking, brushing our teeth, athletics, and the performing arts.  To be present is to be in a state of discovery and exploration. As you become more aware of your patterns and expand your perspectives, you become more present with yourself, which enables you to be more present with others. This allows you to communicate from a centered, connected space, so you can listen with an open mind and heart. 

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To be alive is to be creative. Everyone is creative and we each manifest our creativity differently. Some people are creative in finding a driving route that avoids traffic, some people in how they arrange their bookshelves, some people create works of art. I believe that the healing process is creative. Creativity invites improvisation which makes it possible for us to work with curiosity and non-judgement. What we do in a session is determined by what is called for.

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My undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison is in Neurophysiology and Dance and my graduate MFA in Theatre and Devised Performance is from École Jacques Lecoq, and Atelier Serge Martin in France. I also trained in Theater of the Oppressed with Augusto Boal. I followed a long international career as a performer, director, teacher, and coach in the worlds of circus, dance, and theatre. My own injuries and healing journey led me to become a certified teacher of the F.M. Alexander Technique, a Cranio-Sacral Therapist, Trauma Specialist (Developmental and Shock Trauma) and Teacher of Mindfulness Meditation. I have been teaching since 1974 and began my private practice in 1991. I was a long-time instructor at the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program in San Francisco and am currently a tenured professor in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. I am also the co-director of Infinite Stage. I speak English, French, and Italian. I am dedicated to service and have been a hospice volunteer for many years.

 

F. M. Alexander Technique

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I completed my three-year training in the F.M. Alexander Technique at the Alexander Training Institute of San Francisco and have been teaching the technique since 1991. My practice has included actors, dancers, musicians, visual artists, circus performers, athletes, military, teachers, businesspeople, computer engineers, weightlifters, physical therapists, dentists, acupuncturists, meditation practitioners, psychotherapists, doctors, nurses, pregnant women, and new mothers and fathers. I have also worked with special populations, including recovering addicts and alcoholics, cancer patients, people who are HIV positive, Hospice workers and patients, the Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapists at San Francisco General Hospital, and the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

Cranio-Sacral Therapy

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I trained in Cranio-Sacral Therapy with John Upledger and several teachers through the Upledger Institute. Additional training through the Institute includes Somato-Emotional Release, The Brain Speaks, Mechanical Link (Paul Chauffeur), and Visceral Manipulation (Jean-Pierre Barral). I have worked with British and American- trained osteopaths who teach and practice cranial osteopathy.  I am a teaching assistant for the Cranio-Sacral and Somato-Emotional Release courses.

 

Trauma Training

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I am a credentialed Somatic Experience Practitioner (SEP) after completing a comprehensive three-year training program which focused on Shock Trauma through the Somatic Experiencing International Institute, founded by Peter Levine. I am a teaching assistant for the SEP training.

 I continued my training with courses in The Alchemy of Shame (Caryn Scotto d’Luzia), Trauma and Disaster Relief (Lisa LaDue), Somatic Narrative and Touch Skills (Kathy Kain), Somatics of Emotion and Complex Emotions (Kathy Kain and Tony Richardson), DARE (Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Experience, Diane Poole Heller)I completed Somatic Resilience and Regulation (SRR) with Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell and am an assistant with the training. I completed and am certified (Transforming Touch Practitioner) in Transforming the Experience Based Brain (TEB) with Stephen Terrell and am a senior assistant with the training. The DARE, Somatic Resilience and Regulation and Transforming the Experience Based Brain all work with Developmental Trauma and Attachment.

 

Mindfulness Meditation

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I have maintained a meditation practice for many years with a foundation of eclectic practices, techniques and teachers. I received certification as a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher after completing a two-year training course with the Engaged Mindfulness Institute. I teach individual and group lessons in meditation practice and have worked with special populations including, veterans, people in recovery, cancer patients and incarcerated youth and adults