Ashley Shaw: The Dancing Dream

Preparing for the opening of “The Red Shoes” at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Shaw speaks about her career with the New Adventures dance company and living her dream.

The flow and precision of Ashley Shaw’s movements, even her walk, made it clear she is a dancer. The trail of her nude, sheer skirt paired with her deep carmine pink, tie-die leotard made it evident she’s a ballerina. The Backstage Centre is suddenly full of life with a certain delicacy as the sun sets behind the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.

Coming out of her 10-hour daily rehearsal schedule, the petite, slim-yet-built brunette still seems to be fully energised as she emerges for her lunch break. Not a single bead of sweat.

For the first time “The Red Shoes” is being adapted from film and book to ballet, with a definite pressure on the renowned dance company, New Adventures, to deliver; “It’s also really rewarding though because you feel a part of the birth of this new thing that could run for hundreds of years and to know that you were the first ones to play that role or put in those steps is a legacy that you’re creating”, she says.

Only 27, she’s already achieved her dream. “It’s quite crazy, a lot of people have asked me ‘oh what is your dream now?’, but do you know what I mean? When you achieve it, it’s almost strange.”

She began dancing at age three, the only dancer in her family and oldest of six children. A native Australian, Ashley grew up in Nelson Bay where she built the foundations of her passion. At the young age of 15, she decided it was time to make audition tapes, send them around the world and wait for acceptance to dance school. When she was offered a place at The Elmhurst School of Dance in Birmingham, Ashley jumped at the chance to be in England.

“I completely came on my own. I look back and think, gosh, I was fearless and I just did it”, she says. Her fearlessness led her to go even further. After watching New Adventures at a young age during their Australia tour, lead by world famous choreographer, Sir Matthew Bourne, Ashley was determined to be a part of it.

Working with Bourne, she says is easy and comfortable as he gives dancers space for expression. “He’s got such a clear vision of what he wants without telling us what to do. It’s very directional but very free at the same time.”

“Matt will say ‘do 4 counts of jumping, 8 counts of turning, then reverse it, flip it upside down and then join yours with another person’, so it’s literally a mish-mash and you come up with these crazy inventive steps”, Ashley explains with wide eyes, thick with eyeliner, batting long fake eyelashes that rest upon them – the standout stage makeup.

From her deep carmine pink tinted lips, words come fast, talking with her hands as much as her lips. Her high, buzzing energy comes through constant position change but clashes with the gentleness of her movement, the graceful flow of hand gestures, giving a sense of who she is when she isn’t dancing as someone else.

Becoming a character takes work, which she does not take lightly. Having played characters such as Kim Boggs in Edward Scissorhands and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Ashley’s latest challenge is becoming Victoria Page, the main character, for The Red Shoes.

Researching the time period, book, film, other ballerinas of that time helps Ashley transition and under Bourne’s direction, she’s able to exercise her new identity; “Even yesterday, we just had to walk around the room like our characters, it can be really cringe at first… You really submerge yourself into the character and then once you’ve learned the choreography, you have to mix the two, which can be quite hard.”

Ballets range in storylines, but Ashley is partial to love. Being a romantic means it’s easier to slip into those roles. “I really like playing romantic characters and falling in love. There’s something amazing about having a connection with someone on stage, making the audience cry or feel, or believe it.”

To make matters sweeter, Ashley met her boyfriend, Adam, in the company who danced his way into her heart. As she tells her story, she realises her life is a fairytale.

Even though she’s done everything conceivably possible to achieve her goals and create a legacy, there is one more piece to her perfect puzzle; “I’ve still never performed professionally at home, so that’s my dream… we’re not scheduled to. I want to perform at the Opera House.” Knowing Ashley, she’ll be determined enough to convince New Adventures to take her to the Sydney Opera House sooner rather than later.