Zachary Leighton was born and raised in southern California, and began dancing at the age of nine when he tried out a boy’s Jazz/Tap class at Dancin’ in Acton in his home town of Acton California.

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Three years after joining DIA, Zachary danced in his first evening length ballet: The Nutcracker, with the Antelope Valley Ballet in Lancaster California. This experience solidified for Zachary that he wanted to make dance his life. Zachary then continued to expand his range as an artist dancing competitively for Dancin’ in Acton in a
wide variety of styles, performing with the Antelope Valley Ballet, as well as, playing percussion, and performing in Community Theater.

 

From there, Zachary left home to pursue his career, first by attending the Houston Ballet Academy on partial scholarship, he then Danced with the Oklahoma
Festival Ballet while attending the University of Oklahoma, before joining the Dayton Ballet in 2013.

While with the Dayton Ballet, Zachary performed in many different ballets and operas in addition to teaching Tap and Ballet at the Dayton Ballet Academy.
After three seasons with the Dayton Ballet, Zachary returned to southern California to further his teaching and dancing experience, dancing with the Pacific Ballet Dance Theater, City Ballet of LosAngeles (to name a few), as well as teaching at various dance schools in the Los Angeles area including Dancin’ in Acton bringing his career full circle.

Most recently, Zachary was the Assistant Artistic Director of the Ketchikan Theater Ballet School in Ketchikan, Alaska. While there he taught the majority of the classes offered by the school, choreographed and produced several performances, and coordinated with the rest of the staff with the
help of the Artistic Director.