Meet Leah Boresow Groover

We were lucky to catch up with Leah Boresow Groover recently and have shared our conversation below.

Leah, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Being a creative is one of my favorite parts about my life. But staying creative and inspired can certainly be challenging. Living in our world of paying bills, hustling, and constant auditions and networking, sometimes it truly is daunting to stay true to why you like being an artist in the first place.

Since I was little, I have always been a show-goer. During that time, seeing plays and musicals was just fun entertainment. But now as a living and working creative professional, going to see shows is a great way to keep my creativity alive. As a performer, I watch others on stage, and I find my hunger and motivation to keep performing growing. As a choreographer, I watch shows and think of all the ways I would have done things with my spin on it. So I find myself leaving shows feeling that much more creative.

Another way I try to keep my creativity alive is to create concept videos. In a world of constant virtual feedback, pushing myself to showcase my work is always a healthy choice. Not to say that it’s easy- while managing all things in life, it still takes a great investment of time, and also money, to create something. However, I always feel proud of myself for taking that time to invest and reinvest in my own creativity. I have really enjoyed the final products of my work!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am first and foremost, a dancer. But so many wonderful career paths have branched off of that passion, and so, in addition to being a dancer, I am also an actress, singer, dance instructor, choreographer, and business owner of my own dance studio, Get Up And Dance. Each one of these elements of my life gets great attention and training, and I feel lucky every day to be committed to my craft, and ultimately get to, and choose to, do what I love.

As a performing professional, I started on a concert dance track, but learned quickly before college that studying many outlets of performing would give me the most growth and opportunity. So, I went from training in ballet and modern for 18 years, to studying contemporary dance and ballroom/Latin dance in college, to working in musical theatre. This is exactly what my brand is; I am a multi genre performer, and I feel that every strand of art that I work on helps all of the other strands of art in my life. This also influences my studio, Get Up And Dance; I tell my students that the more they can get introduced to, the better.

So, in a nutshell, on my professional performing focus, I am taking acting, singing, and dancing classes, as well as submitting for all types of auditions in the field to continue to hone my craft, and hopefully get booked on various shows and project! As a choreographer, I am always looking for the next show or gig to do, and I am proud to announce that I will be choreographing the upcoming musical comedy “The Real Housewives of Marietta” at Marietta Theatre Company. With my dance studio, I always have classes going on every week, from private lessons to group lessons, socials, and more! I just finished hosting the Spring Showcase at my studio, and now I am gearing up for my Michael Jackson dance party, happening Saturday, June 17th at 7:00 p.m, it’s going to be a blast. And of course, a day without me teaching dance- well, honestly, those days don’t happen too often, because I am teaching dance almost every day, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
This is a tough question to narrow down! Reflecting back, I think that the three qualities that have been most impactful in my journey are 1) self love and acceptance, 2) courage, and 3) authenticity.

In an industry where almost everything we do can be so easily judged based on appearance, self love and acceptance definitely matters. I never had the “ideal” body type growing up in my training, but after a severe injury in high school, I really understood how grateful I could be towards the body I have. Sure, I had, and still have my moments of self judgement. But overall, accepting your body, along with all of its capabilities AND limits can give you a lot of power. My advice- choose to thank your body, rather than critique it.

Almost every step forward I have taken in my journey has been one with a lot of courage behind it. While others may doubt you, I have found that I can be my harshest critic. And so, I center myself, make a decision to do what I feel is in my best interest, and try to take my best chances out of the hands of others. And this, my friends, takes courage. You must trust your self esteem to know that going for things you want, no matter the outcome, will most likely lead you to a productive place.

And this brings me to authenticity. One of the things I am most proud of throughout my artistic journey is that I have not compromised myself along the way. It’s easy to try to be like other people- maybe someone has a job that you want, or they look a certain way that you want to look. These temptations are just that- but the most content state of being I have found for myself, is to BE myself. And that is what draws people in, because let’s face it- there really is only one me, and only one you. You will be happier for it!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

Challenges are abundant, but so are the ways to overcome them. One of my biggest challenges right now is finding a balance of my own endeavors- I don’t want to forget my artistic identity whilst working hard as a studio owner. And that challenge is also paired with the fact that we are not handed gigs/shows, and in the tough and repetitive world of auditions, constant rejection can be exhausting, not to mention that it feeds the notion that my performing side may not be as strong as I think it is. But I know that this is the drive, this is the hunger. Because being able to perform is so worth it. It makes all the rejection worthwhile!

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Image Credits
Sarah Htun, Dennis Jones, Kelly Dasher of Dashing Images

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