Leah was born in Germany and grew up in NY.  She is a cross-disciplined performer, and is highly proficient in classical ballet, contemporary dance and Argentine tango. She trained at The Julliard School, New York State Summer School of The Arts, American Dance Festival and California Institute of the Arts. 

 

Her professional career started at the age of 17 with the Nai Ni Chen Dance Company in NYC where she performed internationally in some of the most prestigious contemporary dance festivals including the Silesian Dance Festival in Poland and the Chang Mu Int. Arts Festival in Seoul, Korea.

 

Then she went on to work with NYC based companies Armitage Gone!, Doug Varone, Westchester Ballet Theater, Tango y Mas in Mexico City and Tango 1st Century in Quebec Canada just to name a few. She has vast experience as a tango dancer including the New Generation Dance Company between 2004-07 in productions including El Rey del Tango, Black and White Tango, and Aires de Tango. Also she performed on Broadway with the Romulo Larrea Tango Ensembles production Tangos from Gardel to Piazzolla. 

 

She has performed throughout the U.S, Asia, Canada, Europe, Chile and Argentina.  In 2014 she danced in The Mark Morris Production of “L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato” at Lincoln Center. 

 

Leah has also appeared as a principal dancer in several productions with The Chicago Lyric Opera and The Metropolitan Opera including, Les Troyens, La Sonnambula, Rigoletto, Iphigenia en Tauride, The Damnation of Faust, Show Boat and The Merry Widow.  She was also an original cast member in NYC’s Malbec in the first “casa de tango” to open in the US.   

 

She has lived/worked in Buenos Aires and today is one of the best outstanding tango performers of the new generation.  She danced in the most renowned tango shows, including Esquina Carlos Gardel, Tango Porteño, El Querandi Tango and Hotel Faena’s Rojo Tango.  She has performed in some of the most historic milongas in Buenos Aires including, La Baldosa, Salon Canning, El Gricel and La Viruta. 

 

In addition, for the past five years Barsky has danced as one of the top finalists in the Mundial Tango Championships in Buenos Aires. In 2018 she took first place in stage tango in the Danza tu Danza International Championships in Cordoba, Argentina. Most recently she appeared as a featured dancer in New York City Center Encores production of Evita.  As a cross-cultural person and multidiscipline dancer, Ms. Barsky is a unique performer and insightful teacher.  The New York Times raved that Ms. Barsky is “sensual and direct and… the most compelling” performer.