Leslie Garcia
Hip Hop Instructor
With over 35 years of experience, Leslie has studied under many master instructors and choreographers in Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop/Funk, Ballet, Tap, Heels, Whaacking, Dance Fitness and many other urban styles.
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Working with children as young as 2 ½ years old to senior adults, Leslie is widely known for her unique cutting-edge dance style, award-winning choreography and unique music mixes with amateur and professional dance/drill team across the U.S. and dance competitions nationwide. She has made a huge name for herself as an instructor and choreographer in Texas for her incredible musicality and creativity in all aspects of Urban dance and traditional styles.
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Leslie was the first ever UT Dance Team Coach and was the Artist/Asst. Director for the Concordia High School Flight Crew. She owns Cutting Edge Dance and Music as well as her studio Urban Dance Empire. Leslie is also the creator, director and owner of the 5 time Grand National Award Winning and 8 time National Winning team, 2 Hype Hip Hop Company now known as The Empire. She was the creator and director of Lab Ratz Hip Hop Company. Leslie also created past performance teams such as Contagious Dance Force and 210 Hype, as well as a choreographer and dancer for Planet Funk Entertainment, Atomic Productions, Urban Dance Movement, Austin Dance Works and 24 Hour Fitness. She was also master instructor for American Ballet Theatre Intensive Program for many years and for the past 15 years has been working independently with school districts in the state of Texas. Leslie works at studios all over the U.S. teaching dance classes, camps, specialized choreography, and judging competitions and try-outs. On top of her dance talents, Leslie also creates specialized music for individual studios, camps, and performance groups for competitions, recitals, and industry shows and has been a local DJ in San Antonio and Austin for many years.
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Her extreme passion for music and dance, comedic teaching style, and dance knowledge makes her one of the most sought out dance instructors and choreographers in the U.S.. Leslie was nicknamed the “First Lady of Hip Hop” in Austin, TX where she resides. You can catch her teaching at a regular basis throughout the Austin area and at her own studio located in Leander Texas.