Experience:

My name is Ashley. I am the owner of Movement Magic. I started my ballroom dance journey in 2016. It began as a bucket-list hobby and it quickly turned into my passion. I love the way ballroom dancing allows people to express themselves and connect with others. I was accepted into the Dance Education master's program at the University of Northern Colorado in 2018. A core area of my study was ballroom dancing. The title of my master's thesis is Ballroom Dancing: The Effects on the Social and Emotional Intelligence of Adolescents. Here is a link to my thesis: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/theses/178/. The research I conducted showed that ballroom dancing allows people to not only develop their social intelligence, but even more,  emotional intelligence. I graduated in 2020 with my master's degree and a 4.0 GPA. I have also earned multiple first place awards in Latin and Standard ballroom dancing at competition.

My dance instructor experience includes teaching adolescents and adults ballroom dancing for recreational purposes. It also involves choreographing and teaching couples their first dances for their weddings. The sub-genres of ballroom dancing and social dancing that I offer include: waltz, tango, foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, swing, and salsa. I am also a certified Zumba®  instructor and offer regular classes.

I also enjoy writing poetry. I received an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education-English from Rhode Island College in 2012. I taught English to high school students for almost a decade. I left this career to pursue my new purpose of helping people find healing through the power of movement as the owner of Movement Magic. I am in the process of writing and publishing a book which will be a collection of poems. I perform my work at local poetry readings.

Goal:

I am passionate about the arts for a variety of reasons. Ever since dance came into my life, it has enriched me mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.  I would not be who I am today without the gift of dance. It has helped me through so much: dealing with the deployment of my husband who was in the military, releasing the stress of life, and even finding physical and cognitive healing while living with chronic illness. It has been there to help me cope and find joy in adversity and has allowed me to celebrate the good times. It has also helped me to connect with new people and form friendships that will last a lifetime. Through my dance journey, I have discovered: when you move, there's magic. My aim is to help others find the magic of movement.  I hope you welcome the transformative power of dance and the arts as a whole into your life--you won't regret it!

Poetry is another art that has always had my back.  I enjoy making words dance on the page. My aim is not only to facilitate physical movement, but also emotional and spiritual movement. The mind, body, and soul are interconnected.  We must find movement in all parts of our being in order to find wellness, wholeness, and fulfillment. When we take action through any positive outlet, we can find healing and wholeness, and then have the capacity to help others. This is why my motto is: Move. Be Moved. Move Others. It is my hope to live my life in such a way and to inspire others to do the same.