Staff
Deanna Lefton
Artistic Director
Deanna Lefton is from New Hampshire and began her training at Londonderry Dance Academy where she successfully completed all of her RAD ballet exams. She attended the American Academy of Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet summer intensives. After graduating high school early, Deanna continued training at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance under the direction of Summer Lee Rhatigan for two years. At the conservatory she had the opportunity to learn and perform choreography by Ohad Naharin, Alex Ketley, Bobbi Jene Smith, Robert Moses among others. Professionally, she has performed works by Sharon Eyal, Paul Vasterling, Myron Johnson, Johanna Kotze, Eve Shulte, Marciano Silva dos Santos, and more. Deanna has danced with companies in California, Minnesota, and Colorado. By the age of 25 she worked for James Sewell Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Arena Dances, Black Label Movement, Burnswork, Live Action Set, and Wonderbound. Currently she is the Artistic Director and co-owner of Lefton Dance Complex in Bedford, NH. She is also the founder and head coach of the current Bedford High School Dance Team.
Jordan Lefton
Technical Director
Jordan Lefton, a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, graduated from The Juilliard School in May of 2015. Jordan danced at Thomas Dance Studio from the age of five, and later moved on to study dance at Alexander W. Dreyfoos High School of the Arts. Jordan has trained in ballet, among many other techniques including Limón, Horton, Gaga, Graham, contemporary partnering, contact improvisation, and tap. He furthered his training by attending Springboard Danse Montreal and multiple Joffrey Ballet Summer programs. Jordan has worked with many talented teachers and choreographers including Lawrence Rhodes, Risa Steinberg, Troy Powell, Andra Corvino, Francisco Martinez, Alphonse Poulin, Loni Landon, and Larry Keigwin. Jordan danced professionally with Lar Lubovitch and James Sewell Ballet where he performed on stages across North America. While dancing for James Sewell Ballet, he served as the company event coordinator, rehearsal director, and choreographer. He has been teaching dance for over a decade at multiple studios in Florida, Colorado, and Minnesota. Jordan is also a professional photographer and videographer that specializes in dance. He and his wife, Deanna Lefton, now own and operate Lefton Dance Complex.
Melissa Lavery
Mini Ballet and Leaps & Turns
Melissa Lavery is from Billerica, MA and has been dancing for twelve years, at both competition and collegiate levels. She was a former captain of the Southern New Hampshire University Dance Team and graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology and a minor in Sociology in August of 2023. In February of 2023, Melissa was proud be apart of of the SNHU dance team where they placed fifth at the USA National Collegiate Competition in Anaheim, California. She is currently enrolled in a graduate program at SNHU working towards a Masters in Child Developmental Psychology. Melissa is a full-time student and works full-time at a childcare facility at Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA as a Massachusetts EEC certified Pre-K teacher.
This is Melissa's second season at Lefton Dance Complex and she is excited to continue teaching the next generation of dancers!
Adam Wertheimer
Hip Hop
Adam was born and raised in Boston and has been dancing his whole life after watching his grandfather tap dance when he was six years old. Adam has studied ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and krump. He has trained with a number of dance companies in the Greater Boston area, including Mass Motion Dance, Street Hype, VLA Dance, and many more. Adam has nearly a decade of experience teaching hip-hop and creative movement at studios in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where he has worked with students of all ages, from toddlers to adults. He earned a bachelor's degree in May of 2023 in Exercise Science and minored in Disability Studies. He is also a Level 1 Certified Functional Strength Coach (CFSC) and is a professional personal trainer at Fitness Together in Reading, MA. Using his experience in both dance and fitness, Adam hopes to become a leading professional for strength training elite dancers worldwide.