Leslie Kraus

IG: @lesliekraus

Leslie Kraus is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Oklahoma. At OU, Leslie coordinates the Five Moons Dance Festival, which honors and celebrates the legacies of the five renowned Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma. Through the festival, she has worked with the Osage Nation, the Peoria Nation, and is currently collaborating with the Shawnee Nation for the next festival slated for Fall 2024. Artists who have performed and presented their work alongside Native Traditional Dance at the Five Moons Festival include the Osage Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Oklahoma City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Maggie Boyett, Stefanie Batten Bland, Sidra Bell, Rena Butler, and others. The festival creates a platform for female-identifying dancemakers from historically underrepresented populations to present work, in effort to contribute to the future of female leadership in dance.

Leslie recently directed, choreographed, and performed in her work SQUID, an evening-length dance theatre piece centering on the intimacy contained in the imaginary space of two people trapped at the bottom of the ocean. SQUID was a collaboration with her longtime dance partner Douglas Gillespie and sound designer Warren Realrider, commissioned and performed at the Oklahoma Contemporary Museum in the Te Ata theatre.

She recently choreographed and performed in the film I Am Still Waiting with director Stephanie Liapis, which has won numerous national and international awards. Leslie also directed and performed in her own film, Is This The Water; ironically, during this time when reproductive rights are topical, her film needed a trigger warning at the premiere due to it containing bleeding connected to menstruation.

Leslie has had the pleasure of performing with Punchdrunk, playing the role of Lady Macbeth in Sleep No More (NYC), and Woychek in The Drowned Man (London). She has performed with many incredible artists from around the world, but her longest tenure was with the Kate Weare Dance Company. Leslie was a principal dancer and soloist for the KWCO, and danced in over ten of Kate's creations and held the position of Assistant Director.

IG: @lesliekraus