Ashley grew up in Richmond, Missouri and received her formal training at age nine from the Kansas City Ballet School on full scholarship. After spending her senior year as an Apprentice with KCB she went on to study Ballet and Journalism through Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. There she had the privilege of being coached by Violette Verdy, Cynthia Gregory, Helen Starr, Michael Vernon, and Deborah Wingert, and was awarded the Friends of Music Scholarship and the National Society of Arts and Letters award.

In 2008 Ashley joined Louisville Ballet and enjoys dancing in the classics as well as new works by Ma Cong, Tim Harbour, Adam Hougland, Andrea Schermoly, Amy Seiwert, and Ching Ching Wong. So far her favorite experiences on the KPA stage have been the role of Ballerina in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Soloist in George Balanchine’s Rubies, and as The Sugar Plum Fairy in Val Caniparoli’s The Brown-Forman Nutcracker.

Ashley is a passionate advocate for the power performance art gives to a community, and is thrilled to be researching the Jones-Starr and Falardo dance archives at the Filson Historical Society as a part of her 2024 History Inspires Fellowship. She has also collaborated with Kentucky Foundation for Women, Louisville Free Public Library, 21c Museum Hotel, and Kentucky Refugee Ministries. After a day of dancing, Ashley enjoys spending time with her daughter Astrid as well as managing and teaching within Louisville Ballet School’s mind. body. balance. Adult Division.