We recently connected with Ashley Walters and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley , thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I always knew I wanted to live a creative life, but I never knew how to properly express it. Growing up, I would tell people that I wanted to be an optometrist, then a journalist because at the time, I believed it sounded more respectable than saying “I want to be on stage creating art. I want to sing and dance and move an audience to tears”. When I got the chance to perform in my very small school, I took it. I was in the school plays, I was a cheerleader to get dance experience, I was on the speech team to get acting experience, but I mostly kept my head down and got good grades so I could get into a good college and get a job. I quietly studied to get my degree in communications, but I would wander to the music library on campus to check out CDs of music I had never heard before to expand my interests. I took a film studies class so I could learn more about what makes great art great. But after graduation, I moved into administrative careers, always telling myself that it’s better to be stable and secure than to chase my fantastical dreams, but I was miserable. I knew there was so much more to life than what was put before me. There was so much art, beauty and creation in the world and I was dying to be a part of it. But because I had told myself for years that I needed to stay on a basic path, I didn’t know how to break into a creative life. I was so scared that maybe all I had was a dream but no talent or vision to back it up. Then in 2016, I was informed of auditions for a local production of Beauty and the Beast. I hadn’t performed in years at that point. I would only sing when I knew I was alone, I no longer knew how to follow choreography. But I took a chance on myself and auditioned. I was cast in the ensemble and couldn’t have been more excited. Everyone around me was so talented and driven. I finally found the arts community I was looking for. I’ve continued to work with this company every year since 2016, building my performance skills, building connections with other creatives and I’ve even joined the theater’s Artistic Advisory Board. I’m just heartbroken that it’s taken me this long to find my place in this creative world. I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self to take a chance on myself, to build my own creative space if I couldn’t find it around me. I wish I could tell myself I have so much more to offer the world than I think I do. I’m so thankful for where I’m at now, but it’s hard not to feel like I’ve missed so much.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the Production Manager for Full Expression! A Dance Collective, based out of Fort Collins, Colorado. Our mission is to create more safe and equitable experiences for artists through movement, education and community investment. I had first met Full Expression!’s founder, Savannah Svoboda, when we were in a production of Mary Poppins together in 2017. This was before Full Expression! was even a thought and I didn’t even know how to do a proper spin in dance. Savannah was a fantastic dancer and once Mary Poppins closed, she began to teach dance classes in various spaces around town and I was sure to attend every single one. Both because I wanted to learn how to do a proper turn, and because I knew this was a safe space. I had never taken a dance class before, I was uncomfortable in my own body and it was hard to be vulnerable learning a new skill but the community built around these classes was nothing but supportive and encouraging. This was the first iteration of Full Expression! and it continued to grow.
Full Expression! was created as a way to dismantle the harmful structures that were previously put in place by the traditional culture of performing arts. These structures tell people that they don’t have the correct body or look to be a dancer. These structures tell artists to ignore their physical and mental health needs. So many of our dancers come into our studio with a need to heal from these harmful experiences and Full Expression! is here to say that everyone can dance, everyone has a space to perform, and the arts are accessible for all!
As the studio expanded into more classes, more students, and more opportunities, Savannah invited me to join the business as the Creative Director which then evolved into my role as Production Manager. As Production Manager, I have my hands in a little bit of everything. I assist with promotion, content creation, making sure our performances run smoothly, and I am fortunate enough to be able to dance and sing in our shows.
Full Expression! isn’t just a dance studio, it’s a community of like minded artists. We dance, we sing, we create, we fight for social justice, and we support each other and hold space for each other in a troubled world.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Over the course of the pandemic, the world was at a loss. We were fearful and frozen, and we didn’t know how to proceed. As a source of comfort, everyone turned to the arts. Professional recordings of musicals streamed online, museums offered free online tours, our favorite musical artists released new albums and streamed performances from their living rooms. Even Full Expression! began to offer online dance classes so that even though we were apart, we could move our bodies and build energy together. The arts have always been such a valuable part of humanity, and they must be treated as such. Unfortunately, as evident by the Writers and Actors Strikes of 2023, the performing arts aren’t always seen this way. Large businesses would rather cut corners than give artists and creatives their fair share. But if we want to see the arts thrive, we must continue to show up for it, especially in local spaces. You can see a Broadway show if it’s accessible to you, but if it’s not, see your local community theater’s production of Pippin. Go to the small art show in town and buy the painting that someone spent hours working on. Buy a ticket to see your friend’s band play in a cramped venue. Art is all around us and people are putting their hearts and souls into creating something beautiful and we want to share it with the world. The least you can do is pay attention.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Growing up, there seemed to be an omnipresent message that there’s a basic formula to life. Get good grades + go to college + get a job + get married = happy life. Anything that diverted from that formula was seen as lazy, unproductive and undriven. I’ve tried so many years of my life to follow this formula; parts of me now are still trying to. But that isn’t the only way to happiness. I love my life as a creative. I love singing on stage in front of thousands of people. I take so much pride in my role as Production Manager in Full Expression! I love all of it even though none of it is easy. Being a creative isn’t a 9-5 job, it’s a lifestyle. From the second I wake up to the second I fall asleep, I have to believe in myself and the work that I do. I have to treat the work that I do like it’s my Broadway debut, even when I’m doing a free performance in the park. I would like non-creatives to know how valuable and necessary this all is. If everyone followed the same formula, we wouldn’t have the movies and music they love. We wouldn’t know how to communicate our emotions when words fail. The world would be so much more dreary than it already is.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fullexpression.net
• Instagram: @miss.ashbw
• Other: TikTok: @FullExpression

Image Credits
Brian Miller Chris Laulom City of Fort Collins