Dancer Ashley Shaw Discovers She’s Not Just a Dancer…

Australian dancer Ashley Shaw has been a member of Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures company for ten years. Early in her career she was an understudy in his Cinderella. No more the stepsister, she gets to live every girls’ dream in this World War II-set production that is currently in performance at the Ahmanson Theatre through March 10th.

Not only does she dance the lead story of the girl who dreams of going to the Castle Ball in hopes of meeting the Prince, she also serves as Dance Captain for the production.  (Cordelia Braithwaite also dances the role at select performances.)

Local audiences had a chance to see her most recently as Vicky Paige in Bourne’s The Red Shoes. Shaw’s additional roles with New Adventures include Princess Sugar in Nutcracker!, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Kim Boggs in Edward Scissorhands and Lana in The Car Man.

I recently spoke with Shaw about her work with Bourne, learning to be an actress and her passion for leotards.

In 2010/2011 you were the understudy for Cinderella. Now you have the star role. Can you compare the pressure of trying to prove yourself as understudy to the pressure you now have being the lead of the show?

They are two very different pressures. It’s very hard to be a cover in a way because you don’t get to do it very often so every time feels like the beginning and you are at square one. But as a cover you get a lot of support and everyone is excited. On the other side being the main Cinderella is a different pressure about consistency and expectations are much higher. That’s something I’ve had to develop with age and being in the company for a long time. 

Sarah Wildor, who was one of the originators of this role, talked about the joy of living with a role over a long period of time and being able to grow with you. Do you share her observation?

That is one of the really wonderful things about New Adventures. We do so many performances. We’re at 260-some shows right now. We’ve done it a lot. We filmed Cinderella on, I think, our fifth show. But even watching that show it’s almost a completely different performance than what I do now.

What have you learned most about yourself in the 10 years you’ve been with Bourne?

I think one of the biggest things for me would definitely be that I am actually an actress as well as a dancer. In my training you never really learn acting as intensely as technique. That’s something I’ve learned and developed by being in the company. Matt’s work is very story-based and without the acting you couldn’t be in the company.

But acting is so much a part of the expression of emotion. There’s no real acting training for dancers?

I don’t think it is enough as it should be. I was trained pretty much strictly classical ballet. Most of my life you learn these mime elements: crossed arms is death, doing a crown means royalty. It’s more symbolism than actual acting and emotion. I think we should do more acting in dance school since all dance requires that.

You played Vicky Paige in The Red Shoes. Is that role more like you or are you more like Cinderella?

Ooh, interesting. In all honestly, Vicky Paige is more like me than Cinderella. Both have elements of my personality, yet some are very different from me. But The Red Shoes, being about dance and her ambition to be a famous dancer, parallels me a bit more.

Which of these roles challenges you more and why?

I think physically Vicky was challenging. Stamina-wise that show is so big and very hard. Our company doesn’t usually wear pointe shows. What’s hard about Cinderella is she’s two people: downtrodden, meek and shy and the other is glamorous, dreamy and passionate. That’s hard to tap into both sides. I love them both.

You’ve said that when you saw your first ballet at age six or seven that you wanted to be one of the girls in the tutus. How did you develop your obsession for leotards?

I do have an obsession with leotards! I love them! When you are growing up it’s almost your uniform and when you grow up people rebel from them. I love dressing up. I love tutus and costumes and sequins. In my day-to-day I love to dress up. But I love leotards.

Dancer/choreographer Martha Graham once said, “Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It’s a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.” What’s the miracle of your career and what type of dance would you use to celebrate it?

I think the miracle of my career is, so far, how long and exciting it has been. I hope that it continues and I’m so grateful to be in this company and to be in these roles. This is my dream company. If you had told that 14-year-old girl I’d be at New Adventures for ten years, she’d never have believed it.  I couldn’t be happier or more grateful.

And the dance you would do?

I would do the dance I’m doing. That’s what I like is you can’t pinpoint one style to New Adventures. We tend to do all styles.

All Production Photos by Johann Persson/Courtesy of Center Theatre Group