By Ben Shapiro, Editor-in-Chief
For 20 years, Ashley Zimmerman dedicated her life to dance. Then she switched to musical theater. Then to aerial circus performance.
“I have a very vivid memory of my very first dance class when I was 4, and being like, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing,’” the 2011 Conestoga alumna said. “I just felt like this is what I should be doing.”
Throughout her time in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, Zimmerman danced for the Betsy Daily School of Performing Arts in Berwyn. She specialized in contemporary, modern and concert dance and continued her love for the art through college.
After graduating from Point Park University, Zimmerman moved to New York City and performed with two companies, BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance and CoreDance Contemporary. She then decided to shift her focus to musical theater, and later, circus performance. She recently performed with Cirque Dreams on its Holidaze tour in late December.
Zimmerman said that, after more than 20 years of dancing, the “business of dance” no longer gave her the joy she was hoping for and that she felt like “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze.”
“Performers are considered expendable, and it’s really highlighted in performing fields. The audition process could be very grueling — especially in New York City,” Zimmerman said. “I think I hadn’t found work that was fulfilling enough to make all of that worthwhile.”
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, Zimmerman performed on contract with Celebrity Cruises, where she discovered the art of aerial circus performance. Amidst the pandemic shutdowns, she trained with whatever equipment she could find at home under the guidance of personal trainers from Cirque du Soleil.
“In my dance training, there was a lot of focus on the intention behind every movement, whereas in circus, there was a need to work on my overall strength,” Zimmerman said. “As a circus artist, you’re treated more like an athlete than dancers are.”
Looking back at her teenage years, Zimmerman attributes much of her work ethic to dance training and the academic rigor of Conestoga. She remembers going right from school to dance practice for multiple hours every day after school.
“I remember people being like, ‘Oh it must be so hard.’ People would invite me to the movies, and I would have to say, ‘I can’t. I have rehearsal and then I have class and then I have homework.’ But I don’t really remember many times feeling like I was missing out on the human experience,” Zimmerman said.
While she always saw herself as a performer, Zimmerman said that her younger self envisioned that she would have switched career paths by this point in her life. As a kid, she thought that she would become a doctor after dancing for a while. Zimmerman said that she no longer has plans to go back to school or move away from performing and training.
“After my first dance class, I remember being like, ‘This is my life trajectory: I’m going to go to college for dance, I’m going to be a professional dancer and then I’m going to go to medical school,’” Zimmerman said. “Well, that is no longer my life plan. I don’t plan on being done performing anytime soon.”
Ben Shapiro can be reached at [email protected].
