Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Chavarria.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I come from a family of six children, all of which are performers. We accidentally fell into dance when our family relocated to a new city and stumbled across a dance studio hosting a free dance day. My mom put the three oldest in class. During the class, the teacher (who was also the studio owner) was demonstrating something on the ballet barre when it broke and she hurt herself on the way down. My mom ended up driving the studio owner to the ER, and on the way she convinced my mom to enroll us in the competition team. My older siblings started competing only six months after stepping into their first dance class. All of us younger siblings followed suit from there. I remember dreading dance class because it meant I’d have to be away from my mom, which was too much to ask of the stage 5 clinger child I was. The amount of tears shed before and during classes postponed the start of my dance journey by a couple of years, but by age eight I felt what it was like to be on stage and absolutely fell in love with it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I believe I’ve been very fortunate, but there have of course been many challenges along the way. One of which is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal condition which among other things, can cause sudden weight gain, as was my case. I developed PCOS in my teens, gaining 20lbs in two weeks for seemingly no reason. Being as health conscious as I was, I struggled with not physically looking like someone who lived the lifestyle I lead. I became depressed and insecure in my skin. I tried every diet and worked out like someone training for the marathon of their life. After about five years, I truly embraced weight training (something my teachers had discouraged because “dancers shouldn’t have thunder thighs”) and found a way of eating that is balanced and sustainable. I’m now happy to say I love Thunder thighs, and on the contrary, they help my dancing exponentially. I am grateful for the obstacle because without it, I may have never developed this love and appreciation for health and strength.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a dancer/teacher/choreographer, but I also do jobs that involve singing, acting and modeling. I audition and perform professionally in musicals, commercials, music videos, shows, live events, do print modeling, etc., and am a member of a contemporary dance company called Royal Flux. I also teach individuals anywhere from age 2-40+ how to dance. I choreograph professionally for competitive dance teams, music videos for artists, high school musicals, etc.
I specialize in jazz, lyrical, hip hop, ballet, tap and musical theatre. My emphasis is always on performance quality and body language. I love making a complex art form universally entertaining by making the story I’m telling as comprehensible as possible to the average eye with human expression while simultaneously executing the technique and quality of movement that’s more appreciated by trained eyes.
I’m especially proud of the musicals I have been a part of, including West Side Story, In The Heights, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat and in a couple of months, Spamalot. I never had formal acting or vocal training (something I’ve recently started now that it’s become a large part of my career), so it was cool to prove to myself I could do it. I’m now set to understudy my first lead role in a musical, which is both exciting and terrifying. I’m also particularly proud of being a member of Royal Flux. That company is made up of some of the most talented and athletic superhumans I’ve ever met. I’m still trying to comprehend how I am a part of it.
I’ve always been a late bloomer and was not considered a good dancer for the majority of my life. Most of my competitive dance career was spent in the back line of formations, and not many teachers had faith that I’d turn out to be much. But here I am! All of this has had a huge impact on my teaching style. I see my younger self in so many of my students and focus on developing them as artists no matter their level of natural talent. I want to ensure they are aware of the areas they need work AND aware of the strengths and potential they already possess. It’s amazing what showing a little faith in a student can do to their development. Nothing is more fulfilling than giving the underdogs a chance and seeing them take off with it.
I really do love to perform. After 20 years, I’m still waiting for the day where going in for a dance gig feels like work. Doesn’t matter if it’s an audience of 90 or 9,000, it’s always full out, and it’s fueled by pure joy.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Two of the most apparent shifts in the dance industry lately have been the increased use of social media and video submissions.
Social media… There is only one place in the world that has a constant audience, and that’s the internet. The more audience you have, the more opportunity you have for individuals within that audience to see your work and get you hired. A strong social media presence can be extremely beneficial to your career because of this. It’s a great tool; it’s just exhausting to produce that amount of content, LOL. I myself am not a big social media user, so this is an ongoing learning curve, but we’re trying!
Video submissions… introduced worldwide since the pandemic and not going anywhere. It’s way easier and cost-effective for the producer and creative team. For the dancer, it’s easier and harder simultaneously. Why? Because you no longer have to be available to drive to the audition location and spend 2-4 hours of your day there on the specific day they choose. For that reason, it’s easier. We all have lives and other jobs and it’s impossible to make it to every in-person audition. But quite frankly, that is what knocks out at least half the competition, especially for us female dancers. Most in-person auditions I go to have 100-200 women auditioning for the same few spots. With the convenience of video submissions, you can at least double that number. And that’s what makes it harder. The tricky thing now is getting your submission in quickly enough. I once submitted for an audition that had 900 people submit for it. A friend of mine who knew the casting director said that because of the number of people who submitted, they didn’t even watch the dance videos in each submission. Instead, they just went through the list of names of those who auditioned and chose those who they already knew, and sent them straight to the callback. With video submissions, if you don’t create and submit your content within the first 4-12 hours of the audition going live, there’s a good chance your submission won’t even be seen.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ashleychavarria
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/uspaQc0yC_s https://youtu.be/cQQ6_9mk3io https://youtu.be/Gt86UkT6baQ
Image Credits
@beccathecreator @acgphotos @appetite.for.color
