Can you imagine a toddler doing plìes and pirouettes and while everyone else was wearing leotards and tights, she was still wearing diapers?

Fifteen-year-old Leanne Hall says she was introduced to the dancing world by her mother, when she was just six months old.

A product of the St Hugh’s Preparatory School and currently a student at the St Andrew High School for Girls, Leanne has already received numerous awards for what she describes as a ‘way of life’.

While balancing her studies at St Andrew, Leanne is a student of the Tony Wilson School of Modern Dance and a member of the Junior Ensemble, the performing arm of the school. Already, she has also taken several impressive steps towards the international dance stage, having attended a two-week workshop at the Alvin Ailey School and Broadway based in New York. She is also a student of Marian Thwaites’ ‘Ballet Petit’, through which she is preparing for the Royal Academy of Dance exam.

Locally, she also has a number of appearances to her credit having participated in The Jamaica Junior Theatre’s (JJT) ‘Cats’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ productions. She has won several gold medals in the National Dance Festival and was recently selected as a billboard model for the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

“I was shocked, speechless then delighted” said Leanne upon receiving the call from the JCDC. “They had a photo of me dancing at Festival and out of hundreds of other photographs, they chose mine!” she said excitedly. Leanne’s photo now appears on the JCDC corporate sign and several other posters and paraphernalia.

Leanne is currently pursuing eight CXC subjects , including English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Visuals Arts, Economics and Chemistry and says she wants to open her own design company.

“I have learnt how to balance both areas” says Leanne, “too much work and no play will make life a little boring” she quips.

As far as dance is concerned, her immediate aspiration is to become a member of the Company Dance Theatre.

Leanne Hall, performing at the Official JCDC re-branding ceremony in February.