Education, advocacy, and the mission of NEAMA : With Keanu Uchida and Leslie Scott Zanovitch

Leslie Scott Zanovitch is a choreographer, educator, and passionate movement arts advocate with a career spanning 32 years. Leslie taught for over a decade as faculty at The EdgePerforming Arts Center and Millennium Dance Complex in Hollywood, CA, as well as in 22 countries and 48 states in the USA. She was adjunct faculty in the dance departments of Loyola Marymount University and Phoenix College, Founder of Arizona State University’s Hip-Hop Coalition dance company and acted as a Creating Opportunities® dance industry coach in Hollywood for 5 years.  Leslie has enjoyed a long professional career and is represented by the number one dance agency in America, McDonald/ Selznick Associates (MSA). Leslie is an Authorized Darkness to Light Facilitator on sexual abuse awareness and prevention. Leslie is considered a specialist on the complexities of sexualization and objectification and how it intersects with sexual abuse in the movement arts. For a decade Leslie has collaborated with top doctors, psychologists, and social workers to create dance specific research and education. She Founded the nonprofit EDIFY Movement® and Youth Protection Advocates in Dance (YPAD)® in 2012 and dedicated her life to YPAD for a decade. Although Leslie is no longer affiliated with YPAD, she continues her work as President of the Board of NEAMA, Nonprofit Education and Advocacy for the Movement Arts. NEAMA offers accessible programming and services to cultivate healthy and safe spaces for all through interactive, educational experiences for youth, parents/caretaker, educators, and organizations rooted in caring for the mind, body, and soul. Leslie looks forward to her latest role at NEAMA, playing koalas with her little girl, and spending time near the water in her current place of residency, Florida.