Born in Pampanga, Philippines, Leonard Cruz grew up in San Antonio, (Texas). He began dancing Filipino and Hawaiian folk dances at the age of four and completed his Bachelor and Master of Arts in Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He worked with Robert Wilson and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Co. In 1993 he was a guest with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and a member of the Folkwang Tanzstudio. From 1994 to 2001 he danced with the Bremer Stadttheater (Linke and Dietrich). His dissertation was "Laban Movement Analysis as a Methodology for Promoting Creativity and the Arts. Across the Curriculum" and successfully defended it in 2013.

Dr. Cruz is the founder of The Creative, Arts, and Resilience Project Network, a platform for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQUIA+, and Special Needs/Abilities Indigenous artists to support each other through storytelling, healing, and empowerment through virtual workshops, webinars, informal screenings, and performances. Cruz has taught at M.I.T, Harvard, Duke University, Folkwang University of the Arts, and many other institutions. Currently, Dr. Cruz is Adjunct Faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, University of the Arts in Essen, and will start in September of this year as Director of the Theater and Dance in Society at the HKS-Ottersberg, Germany.