Leigh Brewer

Leigh Carol Brewer (also known as Leigh Mann; 10 October 1933 - 26 April 2013) was a New Zealand dancer and choreographer. In 2000 she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dance.

Early life and dance career

Brewer was born on 10 October 1933 in Wellington.

At the age of six, Brewer danced in Ngaire Keys's Black and Silver Ballet at the St. James Theatre in Wellington in 1939, when the Evening Post called her "an infant prodigy". Brewer performed by invitation for the US Marines at the Majestic Cabaret during the Second World War, and at the age of 15, was awarded a solo seal by the Royal Academy of Dance. She was principal dancer in Waltz Dream for the Wellington Opera Company, and guest soloist with the Wellington Ballet Society with Poul Gnatt for Valse Triste, Les Sylphides and Casse Noisette. She was later invited to contribute to the Hyogo autumn festival in Kobe in 1972, for which she choreographed a ballet on the subject of pollution.

Brewer made bronze sculptures of dancers, which she exhibited at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. In 1998 she opened Galerie de Brewer to sell her work.