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Teacher Bio
Ashley King (she/her) is originally from Bloomington, Indiana, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and a minor in Psychology from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashley’s passion for music and dance has brought her to the stage in many capacities throughout the Midwest, Northeast, Colorado, Canada, and Europe....Read more
Ashley King (she/her) is originally from Bloomington, Indiana, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and a minor in Psychology from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashley’s passion for music and dance has brought her to the stage in many capacities throughout the Midwest, Northeast, Colorado, Canada, and Europe. She is trained in many genres of dance and has performed works by Sheila Barker, Mike Esperanza, Cat Cogliandro, Stacie Webster, J9, Ryan Daniel Beck, and Ashlé Dawson to name a few.
Ashley has appeared on MTV, Good Morning America, Telemundo, and The Dr. Oz Show, and has been involved with the Broadway Dance Center Children and Teens Program since 2012. Ashley enjoys choreographing for both stage and for film, and has presented works in shows such as the Brooklyn Dance Festival, in the New York Jazz Choreography Project, in the Sans Limites Festival, at the Holi Hai Festival on Governor’s Island, with Emotion’s Physical Dance Theatre’s annual showcase, and as a finalist in J Chen’s CORE Choreography Competition. She choreographs, films, and edits short dance films, and has premiered her films in festivals in Colorado, Queens, and Brooklyn. Her short film ‘myself’ won the award for Best Dance Short from the Astoria Film Festival in 2020, and her short film ‘tides’ was included in a month-long art installation at Plaxall Gallery in 2019.
Ashley aims to fuse together her diverse training, musical knowledge, experiences, and passion for the arts and movement to create a learning environment in which artists of all ages feel comfortable exploring dance while challenging their minds and bodies. She enjoys sharing the arts with others and helping students learn more about themselves through music and movement. Ashley is a Certified Personal Trainer and Youth Fitness Specialist through ACE Fitness, and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Child Life from Bank Street Graduate School of Education. www.ashleylynnestafford.com
Read lessClass Descriptions
Ashley’s jazz classes encourage students of all ages to challenge their minds, bodies, and musicality. Class will begin with a warmup that focuses on alignment, conditioning, and flexibility before transitioning into upbeat combinations across the floor that utilize technique and foundational jazz footwork. Ashley teaches jazz choreography that emphasizes musicality, strength, style, and technique. All are welcome!
Along with her dance background, Ashley utilizes her music training, fitness expertise, and passion for educating to challenge students of all ages and levels. Her lyrical classes begin with a warmup that emphasizes strength, breath, alignment, and technique. Students will then move across the floor exploring improvisation before learning a combination that encourages musicality, technique, making choices within structure, and freedom in movement.