I am an artist

My artistry is built upon the impact of others’ experiences in relation to my own. Exchanging stories, recalling pasts, dreaming of futures; I create worlds. Inviting others into mine with open arms.

My art strives to convey meaning. As we question the meaning of existence in real time. I seek to make connections, innately.

Bodies moving, shaping, and shifting. Seeing, feeling and sensing. Longing for touch; to feel their being. Humanity unfolding.

My dances evolve by reflecting the thoughts of the mind, as they echo out of the body, and radiate into the world.

My promise is to provide space for others’ to express their voices, their movement, their meaning. I curate communities with my genuine intention, seeking to understand the people with whom I share space.

Ultimately, my pursuit is to give others an opportunity to reveal themselves, to openly share and manifest ideas, to create a collective response through the love of movement.

Accolades

Ashlea has spent over the past decade working as a professional dance artist performing nationally and internationally, an academic professor, and an international program administrator developing various academic, artistic, and wellness programming in the US and in Italy.

Throughout her career, she has successfully performed, taught and choreographed at different universities, festivals and residencies including: Texas Woman’s University, (TX) University of North Texas, (TX) Winthrop University, (SC) Columbia College, (SC) University of South Carolina (SC) Emory University, (GA) Henderson State University, (AK) OBOC Counter Technique (NYC), Philly Fringe, (PA) BOOM CLT Festival, (NC), Dance Masters of America, the Sant'Anna Institute, and the Staibdance Summer Intensive, Sorrento, Italy, the Rensing Center, Liguria, Italy, and more.

Ashlea is an Emerging Artist recipient, awarded by the South Carolina Arts Commission. Her artistic work has been supported by Alternate Roots, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and the South Carolina Arts Commission.

As a strategic planner and academic, Ashlea influences arts education through her guest teaching and service work. Ashlea is the president of board for the Grand Strand School of the Arts, the first ever visual and performing arts school for grades 6–12 for majors in dance, music, musical theater, theater, and visual arts in her hometown, Myrtle Beach, SC.

Ashlea graduated Cum Laude and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.

Work With Ashlea

  • Grounded in contemporary and improvisational dance practices, Ashlea brings a process-driven approach to movement, collaboration, and performance-making. Ashlea invites work, including curation projects and choreographic residencies that embody research, collective exchange, and community engagement. 

  • Ashlea is an experienced education consultant with a strong background in arts curriculum design, arts program development, research and publication, grant writing, and review. Ashlea offers strategic insight to support innovative and creative learning initiatives, programs, and schools.

  • Ashlea offers master classes and private lessons in contemporary dance, improvisation, floorwork, somatic approaches, contact improvisation partnering techniques, and rehearsal direction. 

Move With Me