Leah Brandon, Interim Director of The School at Jacob’s Pillow
(she/her/hers)
Leah Brandon is happy to be celebrating her fifth Jacob’s Pillow Festival season in 2025. In her leadership role at The School, Leah guides the creative development of all School programming, alongside the Executive team of Jacob’s Pillow and The School Program Directors and Artist Faculty. She focuses on strategic planning and operations, marketing, recruitment and the spearheading of new initiatives. Leah brings extensive experience in the area of arts leadership, advocacy and dance education as the Managing Director of NYC Dance Alliance for over 26 years. Throughout her time with NYCDA, she curated and produced a 25 city national tour of pre-professional dance workshops and intensives for thousands of young dancers annually. Widely recognized as a thought leader and consultant in the university dance space, she was integral in the creation of the NYCDA College Scholarship Foundation where she further developed strong relationships within the college dance community. Leah is passionate about coaching emerging artists who are evaluating their next steps, including the college admissions process and career development. Prior to her years with NYCDA, she was a principal manager at Steps on Broadway, and enjoyed a successful career as a professional dancer/teacher and choreographer. Leah is also on the Advisory Committee for Dancers Responding to Aids. Fun fact: Leah saw her first professional dance performance at the Pillow as a tiny, second grade dance lover. She is honored to be a part of the Pillow’s mission of nurturing both emerging and established dance artists. Outside of dance, her favorite things are spending time with her family and friends, cooking and having dinner parties, travel, wildflowers and walking in the woods.
You can contact Leah by emailing lbrandon@jacobspillow.org.