“I CONSIDER MYSELF the momma of many kids,” LEAP (Learning and Empowerment through the Arts) founder Genieve Hanley tells me. A mother, dancer, teacher and entrepreneur, Cayman Island-born Genieve is a force of nature, and a tap dancing, pirouetting one at that!

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After studying arts management in London – where she worked for several established music and performing arts venues like Ovalhouse – Genieve returned to St. Kitts and launched LEAP in 2010. “We’re teaching our students [aged three through nineteen] not just how to move, but how to have a voice and interact with other people,” she says. LEAP’s weekly classes span dance genres from hip-hop to Afro-Caribbean.

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“I’m so proud to have a 100% female team that’s changing our little corner of the world. We staged a show in 2025 at St. Kitts’ Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium about an all-female astronaut crew flying to space,” she adds. Broadway and jazz-loving Genieve cites Misty Copeland – American Ballet Theatre’s first black principal dancer — alongside LEAP’s students as her biggest inspirations. “One of the things we’re trying to foster at LEAP is this sense of family and community.” Her students’ greatest cheerleader, Genieve tells me, “I’ve gone on to watch them create their own dance studios and spaces. It’s a ripple effect.”

 

On a well-deserved day off from her physically and mentally demanding vocation, the documentary film enthusiast likes to staycation at tranquil hideaways like The Hermitage. Not one to take her twin-island home for granted, Genieve even finds joy in her daily commute. “I always love the Peninsula drive experience, whether it’s early morning or late at night.” 

 

🌐 LEAP SKN

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