We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Zimmerman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
My aerial journey began in the Fall of 2019. Up until this point, my whole performance career centered around dance. I grew up dancing at my local studio, went on to obtain a BA in Dance at Point Park University, and moved to NYC to “make-it” as a professional in the dance capital of the country. I spent five years performing in various capacities, but I felt that something was missing. Dance no longer sparked the joy, passion or creativity it once had, and I kept longing for something new- a project, company, dance style- to peak my interest again. In 2018 I began performing on a cruise ship. This was my first real exposure to circus and aerial artists. I noticed right away that the aerialists were absolutely beautiful, strong, and breathtaking to watch. They moved with grace and confidence while performing some of the most unimaginable skills. I also noticed the aerialists were onstage for 5-10 minutes total in a 45 minute long show (where dancers are onstage for almost all of it). The aerialists were also paid more, had better living accommodations and were generally treated with more respect. Most importantly, I noticed that some of what they were performing in the air was similar to how dancers moved on the ground. I thought to myself, “Could I do this?”
After I got off my cruise ship in 2019 I began taking aerial classes. I was still keeping up with dance classes, auditions, and dance projects, so my progress was slow at first. But the more classes I took the more I fell in love with the artform. And the more I loved it the more I craved practicing it.
Fast forward to April of 2020. The world had been shut down for over a month due to Covid. I was quarantining at my parents house in Pennsylvania still slated to dance in a dinner show in Florida in June. The company was still convinced it was going to happen, contrary to all the evidence pointing towards lockdown extending into the summer. Finally, at the end of the month I got the notice I had been waiting for. The dinner theater was canceling all of their summer performances. Even though I had been expecting this, something inside me shifted. It seemed that performing was on hold for the foreseeable future. Being a dancer had been my identity for so long, and the pandemic was offering me an opportunity to reinvent myself. My literal thought at the time was “Fuck it. Nothing matters anyway…might as well try to join the circus.”
After this moment, I was 100% committed to becoming a professional aerialist. Although I had zero access to aerial equipment, my time taking classes in NYC taught me that I needed to work on my overall strength A LOT. Don’t get me wrong, dancers are strong. But aerial requires a specific kind of strength and highly developed upper body muscles. Luckily, my parents had a fair amount of workout equipment and we had a very small and very rusty jungle gym in the backyard. I hired two ex-Cirque du Soleil performers/personal trainers to write me fitness programs I could complete at home. These were specifically designed towards reaching my professional aerial goals. I spent two to three hours a day working out, stretching, and developing the strength I needed to be in the air. And since there wasn’t much else going on in the pandemic, I got very strong very quickly.
After lockdown ended I went back to NYC, and once aerial studios opened back up I started taking classes again. I was fortunate enough to have found a few highly skilled and dedicated teachers who were willing to invest time into me. I still worked with my personal trainers, but now I was balancing going back to work, aerial classes, working out and a few dance projects. Honestly, it was some of the best times of my life. I put learning my craft at the center of my life, and found a way to make everything else work around it. It was extra exciting that with my newfound strength I was able to execute certain skills more easily than before the pandemic. However, I did learn that strength and technique are different. Even if you have the strength to execute a skill it doesn’t mean you have the neural pathways or body awareness developed enough to do it perfect immediately. As with anything worthwhile, learning aerial takes time and patience.
I operated under this system for almost two years…balancing teaching fitness classes with taking aerial classes with working out consistently. After some time I developed enough confidence to start training on my own without the watchful eye of an instructor. I would either teach myself specific skills that were interesting to me, or I would further practice what was taught in class on my own time. It eventually all paid off in 2022 when I booked my first professional aerial job on a cruise ship.
Being a working professional has been a dream come true, but it has presented new challenges to learning my craft. Nowadays, my training revolves around what project or performances I might have coming up. While I’m away on out-of-town contracts it can be very difficult to find time or space to train outside of performance days. Additionally, depending on the demands of the performance schedule, it can even be difficult to have enough energy to train aerial or work-out. It’s always a delicate balancing act between resting, performing and continuing to train to maintain my body/skills necessary to do my job well. So my training schedule must remain fluid. Every day, week and month I have a different focus depending on what I have to work on. If I have a week where I don’t have a lot going on I’ll prioritize learning new aerial skills or moving in a way that makes me feel free. If I’m feeling weak I’ll focus more on lifting and cross-training in the gym. If I have a performance job coming up most of my energy goes into honing and perfecting my act so that it’s smooth and flawless onstage.
Reflecting on my journey and how I learned to become an aerialist I don’t think I would have changed anything. I did what I could at the time with the resources I had at my disposal. I balanced my time and finances as best as I could during a tumultuous and unstable time in the world. Committing to learning aerial was the beacon of light for me in a dark time…something to hold on to when it seemed everything was crumbling around us. It was my way of working towards a future that wasn’t guaranteed. Learning my craft gave me the hope that I needed to stay afloat.
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?
Hello! My name is Ashley, and I’m an Aerialist/Circus Artist based in Queens, NY. I started dancing from a young age, and went on to receive a BA in Dance from Point Park University. After school, I moved to New York City where I performed for choreographers Rebecca McCormac, Teresa Fellion, Shaw T. Bible and Asher Gelman. I also performed as a dancer on Celebrity Cruises in the inaugural cast of Eve at Eden with Variety Worldwide Productions.
After my experience with working on cruise ships I switched my focus from dance to aerial, and began studying with coaches Mathieu Leopold, Amadeus Lopez and Brenna Bradbury. Since 2022 I have performed as an aerialist in various productions, including “It’s a Ship Show!” for Virgin Voyages, “SUNSET CIRCUS” for Parallel Exit, and as the main character, Clara, in “Holidaze” for Cirque Dreams. Most recently, I performed in the inaugural cast of Cirque Dreams “Elysion” in Abu Dhabi and in the 147th Edition of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey.
As an aerialist, I specialize in dance trapeze, lyra and aerial straps. I position myself to directors as someone who can provide high level aerial acts and learn dance choreography quickly. I’m also passionate about character work, and enjoy portraying whimsical characters onstage. As a circus artist I have worked in Big-Top tents, traditional proscenium stages, large arena shows and intimate corporate events. Most of the work I do is family friendly and geared towards children of all ages!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I had to unlearn was the notion that “It’s too late to start.” Growing up, teachers and authority figures gave rigid timelines for when it was appropriate to start and stop performing. The narrative I was taught was that you start learning your performance craft (dance, aerial, singing, etc) at a very young age, and by the time you reach your thirties you are ready to retire. Although I had been dancing since I was four years old I didn’t start learning aerial arts until I was twenty-six. Since I “started late” I figured the opportunities that were available to me were going to be very slim. The story in my head was that there was a ceiling on my aerial career and it was quite low. This could not be further from the truth. I booked my dream aerial job after my very first audition when I was twenty-nine. Booking this dream job gave me the opportunity to reimagine what was possible. I started expanding the vision I had for my life and began setting bigger and bigger goals. Since then, I have done more in my short three year aerial career than I could have ever imagined, and have worked with nationally and internationally acclaimed companies. I am now thirty-two years old and I feel like I’ve barely begun. When I hear people in their early twenties say “It’s too late for me to start” I want to (respectfully) shake some sense into them. The truth is there is no magic age or time to start or stop ANYTHING in life. What matters most is your passion, tenacity and dedication for your craft.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I subscribe to an online community of performing artists called Amplified Artists, created by performer/choreographer/director Jim Cooney. This community provides hundreds of resources for artists- from seminars on branding and marketing, to worksheets on organizing your finances, to discussions on creating work-life balance in the performing arts. It has provided me with help on my resume, website, social media, and performance reels. Jim and other members shifted my mindset on how to approach the business of art, and how to stay in the “drivers seat” while navigating my career. Although I cannot control everything that happens, Amplified Artists provides valuable information and tools on how to stay prepared for anything life throws my way professionally. Amplified Artists has taught me not just how to survive but to THRIVE in this industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ashleyrosezimmerman.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashley_moves/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashley_moves
Image Credits
Duvan Zapata
Riley Williamson
Joshua Danskin