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
Jazz 1, Leaps & Turns, and Mini Ballet
Melissa Lavery started dancing at the age of eleven in the Boston area. She is currently a full-time student at Southern New Hampshire University studying Child and Adolescent Developmental Psychology and Sociology. Along with being a student, she is the Co-Captain of the SNHU Performance and Competition Dance teams. The team performs at homecoming, sports games, and multiple other events and fundraisers. The team specializes and trains in collegiate jazz, pom, and hip-hop. In addition, the competition team trains in lyrical technique and performs choreography in competitions, the most recent of which was at Westfield State University. Melissa is honored to be a staff member at Lefton Dance Complex and is very excited to help dancers learn and grow in their performing careers!
Adam Wertheimer
Hip Hop
Adam was born and raised in Boston and has been dancing his whole life. He was first inspired to dance by his grandfather who tap danced. At the age of 6, Adam started studying ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, and hip hop at Mass Motion Dance directed by Irada Djelassi and Terri Gordon. Over the years, he has studied African, Krump, Haitian, and Latin. As a teen, he joined StreetHype, and StreetPunX both directed by Tony Tucker. He studied Exercise Science at The University of Massachusetts Lowell with a minor in Disability Studies. While in Lowell, he was a part of UMass Lowell's breakdance club, Tech Styles Crew, Hip Hop Club, Protohype, Mill Advised, and The Expressive Movement. Adam has taught for Mass Motion Dance and Park Street School and is currently at Lefton Dance Complex.