We were recently pleased to be able to connect with Andrea Lesnick, Co-Artistic Director, Dance Division of Bucks County School of the Performing Arts in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Her husband, Bryan 
Lesnick, is the Co-Artistic Director, Musical Theater Division. The Bucks County School of the Performing Arts is not limited to teaching dance. They also teach musical theater, acting, and voice.
Andrea’s philosophy regarding competition teams is that the dancers are competing with themselves and not with another team. “They are striving to realize, achieve, and then exceed their own expectations as performers.”
She has the dancers set small goals for themselves and then strive to reach beyond these goals. She emphasizes that there is no instant gratification in dance or in performance. She encourages their students to take it one step at a time. She often asks them “Why do you dance?” She says they usually answer, “Because we love it!” She responds by saying “Then, show me that. Show me how much you love to dance.”
Andrea says her proudest moment was when she had a young student who was in her first year competing with Bucks County School of the Performing Arts and the dancer was extremely nervous 
before she went onstage for a huge competition. Andrea honestly didn’t know if the dancer would make it through the competition! When the dancer got offstage after a stellar performance, Andrea asked her how she felt. The dancer replied “The way I feel right now is all the award I need.” Andrea stated that ‘it’s not about trophies…dance is an art form.
Andrea feels that the biggest mistake she sees dancers make when competing is that “they tend to get in their own way by letting their nerves or negative thoughts about themselves take over” However, little by little that goes away and their confidence comes shining through. “The more they perform, the easier it becomes.”
In her opinion, class dance clothes should be practical, comfortable and appropriate for the dancer’s body type. She loves to see nice, clean lines. Andrea’s goals for both her teams and her students is for them to take themselves to the next level of their training and to continue their growth as artists.
Her husband is a singer and they met when they were doing shows together. She said they always knew they wanted to open a school that offered a musical theater and voice program as well as a dance program. As all of their plans fell into place, they proudly opened the Bucks County School of the Performing Arts and have been “inspiring the youth in Pennsylvania” ever since They offer a multitude of musical theater, voice, acting, and dance classes in all genres for all ability levels ages 2 1/2 to college! They followed their dreams and are now inspiring their students to do the same. 
If you have experience with Bucks County School of The Performing Arts or Andrea Lesnick please leave a comment below about your experience!
