Lesley works in the feilds of rehabilitation, movement education and performance as a practitioner, artist, teacher and researcher. Her acedemic and movement research focus is the concept of physical listening.
She was introduced to the discipline of listening as an art practice by pioneering composer Pauline Oliveros (1932 - 2016). Lesley studied and mentored with Oliveros translating her aural listening strategies into a physical listening focus applying it to movement, voice and bodywork.
Contact Improvisation has been a key part of Lesley's movement practice since being introduced to it in 2001 in Toronto, Canada. Her main interests in CI are the subtlties and physiologies of listening and dialogue. As a teacher, Lesley translates osteopathic principles into functional strategies aimed at developing a respectful, cooperative, listening relationship with our own bodies and in turn, each other.
Lesley began teaching CI in 2009 assisting choreographer/dancer Pam Johnson at Humber College School of the Performing Arts teaching CI to physical theatre students from 2009 - 2011. She has been a guest lecturer for graduate and undergraduate classes at the University of Guelph School of the Arts and has facillitated groups at Humber College, Ryerson University, The National Ballet, York University, Halliburton School of the Arts, Leviathan Studio, as well as teaching privately and within her local communities.
Many teachers have directly and indirectly contributed to her understanding of CI including: Nancy Stark Smith, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Irene Dowd, Margie Gillis, Ruth Zaporah, Fides Krucker, Katherine Duncanson among others.