Leica Hardy, Artistic Director
S.R.B. Adv., S.R.B. Examiner
Founder Leica Hardy’s enjoyment of dance and movement has been a lifetime activity with over 30 years of teaching experience. She is respected nationally as a master teacher and dance educator. During her teaching career students have gone on to study at such institutions as The National Ballet School, the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, the North Carolina School of the Arts, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the Banff Centre. Former students have gone on to successful careers as dancers, teachers and choreographers.
Leica is also known for the excellence of her performance work and choreography. She has over 40 choreographic works to her credit and is best known to the local community as the choreographer and director of The Nutcracker, presented annually since 1991 by Symphony Nova Scotia. Two works, The Circus Show: Ophelia’s Folly and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice have been performed for thousands of elementary aged children across Nova Scotia. Significant endeavours since 2002 have been the creation of Flint for Mocean Dance, and choreography for Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia’s productions of Moons & Mermaids by Laura Jolicoeur and for When Dinosaurs Dine by Moonlight by Sheree Fitch. She has also been engaged as a rehearsal director and instructor for Mocean Dance.
Leica holds her advanced teacher’s certification with the Society of Russian Ballet. In 1997 she became an examiner for the Society and a member of its National Executive Committee. Recent projects for the Society include supervising the creation of the Male Syllabus and the revisions to the lower levels of the Female Syllabus. She also currently teaches for the Teacher Training Diploma Program at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts.
Leica was an instructor at Halifax Dance from the summer of 1983 until spring 2006. Also during that period she was the Artistic Director of the Young Company of Halifax Dance, which she founded in 1988. Prior to moving to Halifax in 1984, Leica taught at Claude Watson High School for the Arts (North York) and at George Brown College (Toronto).
As a child Leica began her training in Toronto with Doris Pollock, Diana Jablokova-Vorps, Hilda Strombergs, and Marijan Bayer. She later trained extensively in both ballet and modern dance at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the School of American Ballet (New York), The Banff Centre, with Nesta Toumine, and noted Canadian modern dance instructors Linda Rabin, David Earle and Carol Anderson. For over a decade she appeared with companies and as a soloist on stages in Canada, the United States and Europe.
Photo: Kate Hayter-Reid