Leyla Hojnacki

Leyla was born in Rome, New York and began her dance training age the of three at the John Hayes O’Neill Studio of Dance under the direction of her parents, Stephen and Canan Jackson. She attended American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive in New York City from 2006 through 2010. Hojnacki studied at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre from 2008 to 2010 under the tutelage of Franco DeVita and Raymond Lukens. As a student, she had the opportunity to perform at the Company’s annual Spring Gala at the Metropolitan Opera House.

In 2011, she furthered her training at the Joffrey Ballet School and began working withrenowned faculty members Davis Robertson, Francesca Corkle and Era Jouralev. Leyla has also studied with Ceyhun Ozsoy, Stacy Caddell, Lupe Serrano, Maria Kowroski, Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson, Misty Copeland and Ann-Marie Holmes. Her repertory includes Odette in Swan Lake Act II, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Cinderella in Cinderella and Malificent in The Sleeping Beauty, Solstice by Davis Robertson, Here and Beyond by Africa Guzman, Viva Vivaldi by Gerald Arpino.

In September 2012, she received a full merit scholarship from the Joffrey Ballet School of New York. Leyla also became a member of the Joffrey Ballet Concert Group in New York City. In December of 2014, Leyla became a member of the Istanbul State Ballet in Istanbul Turkey for the 2015-2016 season. Her repertory included roles in the full-length ballets Sylvia, Giselle and a new work by Christopher d’Amboise titled Just One of Those Things.

For the past 5 years, Leyla has instructed and provided choreography for the ballet repertoire at various dance studios in central New York. In Fall 2021, Leyla was named the Associate Director at John Hayes O’Neill Studio of Dance. As the Associate Director, Leyla hopes to bring new classical ballet repertoire to the studio while staying true to the traditions created by Stephen and Canan Jackson. Outside of the studio, Leyla provides instruction for ballet, yoga, and pilates. All these practices have provided her a sound background to work on patients as a newly Licensed Massage Therapist.