Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Suta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I grew up dancing, but had never once considered pursuing a career in the arts. The first time that I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was actually the day of my college orientation. I had already completed the majority of my core classes through dual enrollment and attending an additional semester at a local technical college. I was transferring to Kennesaw State University as a sophomore with the intention of studying business. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t really sure why I was doing it. It just seemed like a solid, dependable thing to study that others around me would approve of. I was certain I would figure it out along the way and find a pathway in business that spoke to me.

The clarity I lacked while touring the KSU Coles College of Business that morning hit me like a ton of bricks when on a whim, I went to tour the KSU Dance Department at the end of my orientation day. I had vaguely considered adding a dance minor, but at the time, it didn’t seem terribly important to me. I felt confident that my time in the arts had more or less ended when I graduated high school. Dance was always a fun hobby I enjoyed, but nothing more. My dad took me over to the KSU Dance Department that afternoon, and from the second I stepped into the studio, I knew immediately that was where I was supposed to be. It was one of those moments that stand out as pivotal, a moment I can point back to where everything changed.

Looking back, that day absolutely shaped the course of my future in ways that I couldn’t even fathom at the time. It’s surreal looking back and thinking how different things could have been if I’d stuck to the status quo I had in my head and not followed my heart. I started pursuing a career in the arts that day without fully realizing it and have never once looked back.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a graduate from Kennesaw State University, where I received a Bachelor of Arts in Dance (Summa Cum Laude) with a concentration in Classical Ballet.

During college, I began my teaching career at Hickory Flat Dance Academy and have since built over a decade of experience as a dance educator. My immense passion for dance pedagogy and working with kids of all ages has opened up opportunities to instruct and guest teach all across the metro-Atlanta area, for which I am immensely grateful.

I’ve served nine seasons with the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education in a variety of educational and administrative roles. I was one of the original faculty members at the Virginia-Highland Centre in Amsterdam Walk and have been honored to further serve the Virginia-Highland families and student body as its Centre Manager since 2023. During my time with Atlanta Ballet, I’ve spearheaded additional programming such as the Kids In Step Student Matinee Field Trip Series for local school groups and Educate.Motivate.Elevate, the Centre’s student mentorship program.

I also teach a limited number of weekly classes for two incredible studios in North Georgia, Atelier88 and Cumming Dance Academy, and I’m affiliated with the Addicted2Dance Competition/Convention (A2D) in Colombia, South America. I’ve had the honor of traveling to both Pereira and Barranquilla to serve as an adjudicator and faculty member for A2D’s events.

Overall, my students as a whole are my proudest accomplishment. I am grateful for the range of students I’ve had the opportunity to work with across the greater metro-Atlanta area and globally through A2D. Across all my roles, I strive to make the arts more accessible and impactful to students of all backgrounds. I seek to create a community, where all students feel represented and can thrive at their fullest potential. No matter where a student is in the world, in their training, etc., they can ALWAYS benefit from feeling accepted and welcomed within a learning environment.

In February 2026, I’ll be embarking on a brand-new journey with Luma Dance & Acrobatics. I am beyond excited for this new opportunity and look forward to sharing more with readers soon!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think we can all agree that COVID forced everyone to pivot in the wildest ways. As a full-time dance educator at the time (split between two part-time jobs), my teaching hours were scaled back drastically. Fortunately, both companies I was employed with over COVID kept employees on at a reduced rate. I am forever grateful for their generosity.

The teaching hours I did still have, though, looked very different. I will never forget the ways in which the pandemic forced me to grow as a dance educator. I was navigating all of these unknowns on a personal level, while still showing up on Zoom to provide a semblance of familiarity and comfort to my preschool dancers, who had no idea why life had just turned upside down. At the onset of the pandemic, I was teaching dance classes in my parents’ garage via Zoom. I taught summer camps in the studio through Zoom, masked and alone in a room.

Later in the pandemic when we returned to meeting in-person, we were masked and had taped squares on the floor to keep all the dancers six feet apart. We couldn’t travel across the floor. We had to sanitize the entire room between classes. I taught hybrid classes alone where I was responsible for dancers both in the studio and over Zoom at the same time. I taught outside classes in the sun, the cold, the rain, in parents’ driveways, at the park. I was essentially carrying around a portable studio set up in my car. That year was one huge lesson in pivoting.

Through all of this, I also had to pivot and find additional sources of income to supplement my teaching pay being cut. It took some creativity, but I found VIPKid, an online platform for teaching English online to students in China. I took what I knew about teaching dance and applied it to teaching English. I was animated, caring, and silly with the kids, whatever it took to get the material to stick. I found an incredibly beautiful community of students that I met with weekly, who resonated with my approach to teaching. I never imagined I would be an ESL teacher, but the pandemic forced me to reevaluate my skillset. I discovered that my experience working with kids and teaching dance could easily transfer into other areas if I was just creative enough to find the right outlet.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission in the arts is to uplift the next generation of dancers. I want to give back and pour into their creative journeys in ways that were lacking in my own journey as a young creative. I want to open their eyes to all the opportunities and resources out there. It’s important for them to see how multi-faceted the arts can be, whether or not they want to pursue a career in the arts.

Exposing students to the arts, especially via a thorough and well-rounded arts education, creates a lasting positive impact on them. I wish I’d had the right teacher or mentor to push me towards bigger and better things when I was these kids’ age. I want my students to be informed and know how many amazing programs, careers, intern opportunities, colleges, etc. are out there, even if dance is just a fun hobby for them. I want them to see a fuller scope of the dance world than just my classroom.

My main goal as an educator is to care for the dancer as a whole. We have to nurture the dancer’s emotional and mental wellbeing in addition to the physical training provided. Dance should always be a positive experience. Ballet especially gets such a bad reputation as being this hardcore, no-fun-allowed type of activity. Challenging that stigma is so important to me. Ballet *can* be fun. Ballet *can* be diverse. Dancers *can* have autonomy in the classroom. Dancers *can* be treated with kindness and empathy. All of that is a choice, though, on behalf of the teacher and the overarching studio. So it’s important to me to align myself with organizations and opportunities that allow me to share those values and create a learning environment built on mutual respect.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ashleymaekayla

Image Credits
Stephanie Sumner & Jessica Maria Rivas