Dancer Teaches Life Skills Through Dance

Ashley J’s Dance Center starts training dancers beginning at age 3. Photo provided by Ashley Johnson.
Ashley J’s Dance Center starts training dancers beginning at age 3. Photo provided by Ashley Johnson.

Dancer Teaches Life Skills Through Dance

By Tia Carol Jones

Ashley Johnson started dancing when she was three years old. Growing up in a creative household, her and her brother would dance around the house to Michael Jackson.

Johnson’s mother put her in ballet classes at a studio in River Forest, Ill. After some time, she started taking modern dance and jazz dance classes. She attended performing arts elementary school and high school. During that time, she learned various kinds of dance. She graduated from college with a dance degree and a minor in criminology. After college, she went to Ghana for two months to study traditional West African and Noyam techniques.

Johnson opened Ashley J’s Dance Center in March of this year. It is located at 1059 N. Laramie. She said opening the dance center was always something she wanted to do. She decided that opening the dance center would be a 25th birthday gift to herself. In addition to opening the dance center, Johnson is also a teaching artist with the South Chicago Dance Theatre. She teaches at North Kenwood Oakland Charter School. It was there that she fell in love with teaching. She likes to say that she teaches life skills through dance.

“I think I was really ready to create a legacy and to produce stars; to really make someone’s dreams happen,” she said.

Johnson said she wanted to open the dance center as a way to provide more opportunities for people who are ready to dance. She knew that she wanted to open the dance center on the West side of Chicago, where she grew up, because she remembered how she had to travel outside of her community to take classes.

“I always felt like it was a duty of mine to give back to my community. I was fortunate enough to be taken out of my community and was able to learn from people in other areas, and now I feel like it’s my time to just come back and give that education for people who want to do it, just like me,” she said.

Instruction at Ashley J’s Dance Center begins at age 3 to adult. There is a line dance class that takes place every Sunday for adults. There is also a majorette and dance line boot camp that will kick-off May 17th. For the summer dance intensive, which will take place in June, each week will focus on a different age group. The first week will be for ages 3 years old to 6 years old; the second week will be for ages 7 years old to 12 years old; the third week will be for ages 13 years old to 17 years old; the last week will be for 18 years old and up.

Each group will have beginner to intermediate ballet, beginner to intermediate contemporary and ages 3 years old to 6 years old will get a creative movement class and a beginner jazz class. Johnson wants to provide students with the opportunity to learn a range of different techniques. Cost is $60 for the full week and $15 per class for drop-in classes.

Johnson is trying to gauge what people in the community want as far as classes. She expects that by August she will have a set of class offerings for the community to participate in. She said once that happens, the classes will be membership based.

For more information about Ashley J’s Dance Center, visit www.ashleyjsdancecenter.com, or follow @ashleyjsdancecenter on Instagram or Facebook for updates.

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