Leonard meek
Author/Dancer
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About the Author
I was born in the old Harlem Hospital in New York City into a large family. Along with half of my siblings I attended Public School 92 (P.S. 92), which was directly across the street. While in the sixth grade on assembly Friday, I had the good fortune of seeing a local dance troupe under the tutelage if Mrs. Elaine C. Smith from Intermediate School 136 (I.S. 136) perform. From the moment the stage lights came up on those young black dancers, I knew I wanted to be a dancer.
I expressed my desire to be a dancer to my sixth-grade teacher, Ms. Evans, who encourage me to pursue dance. Ms.Evans introduced my entire sixth grade class to Broadway, when she took us on a class trip to see Stephanie Mills in the Wiz at the Majestic Theater on 44th and Broadway. Later that year, thanks yo Ms. Evans, I saw and experienced my first professional dance company performance, of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Upon graduating from P.S. 92, I attended I.S. 136, so that I could join Mrs. Elaine C. Smith’s dance program. Later that year, thanks to my oldest brother Anthony and his lover Kevin A. Hunt, who was a dance teacher at Bernice Johnson‘s (BJ’s) Cultural Arts Center, located in Queens, NY, I was afforded a very desperately needed scholarship. Sixth months later I joined BJ’s Junior Company.
After I graduated from I.S.136 I attended the High School of Performing Arts, located on 46th street in the theater district. There I studied dance with Penny Frank, Bella Malinka, Stephanie Zimmerman, Andre Kulik, Robert (Bob) Heath and others. All of whom were professional dancers. During this time I joined a small local company in the south Bronx, the Mafata Dance Company.
While in my senior year at the High School of Performing Arts, Gerri Houlihan became a member of the dance teacher faculty. On my seventeenth birthday, after class, Gerri and I were talking and she asked of my plans after graduation. My goal was to join a dance company. If that didn’t work out, then I would go to college. She asked if I was interested in auditioning for the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company? I knew nothing about this company, but I agreed, trusting her suggestion. As it turned out, the dancers, choreographer and choreography were amazing!
I auditioned and was accepted into the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and began rehearsals while still in my last year of high school. Three months later I had the privilege of touring the world from Romania, to Istanbul, to Portugal, East Germany and Ireland. I wasn’t one to write, but while touring, I regularly wrote postcards and the occasional letter to my mother and nephew. I found that I enjoyed this way of communicating.
Some years later I joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) under the direction of its founder and choreographer Mr. Alvin Ailey, and later under the direction of Ms. Judith Jamison. While touring with the AAADT, I continued writing letters, which grew into poems, and with joy, my first book.
