In this episode of JIM ON THE AIR, I had the privilege of talking with Ashley McQueen. Ashley will be featured in the RE: EMERGE A DANCE FESTIVAL at Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara, CA. The festival is from June 17 through the 20th. Ashley McQueen is the Founder/Artistic Director of Smashworks Dance, a non-profit dance company advocating for women’s empowerment through performing arts, educational programming, and community outreach. She holds a BFA in Dance from Webster University and an MFA in Dance from Hollins University. McQueen has performed as a company member with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, Common Thread Contemporary Dance, and Arova Contemporary Ballet. Her choreography has been commissioned by Lake Arts Project Milwaukee, Peridance Youth Ensemble, Minnesota Ballet, and Big Muddy Dance Company; and presented at festivals such as Dance St. Louis Spring to Dance, Midwest RADFest, and NYC Transit Museum. Smashworks Dance was named a Village Voice “Voice Choices,” and their evening-length political satire For Which It Stands - featured in Time Out NY and Brokelyn’s “Top 20 Cheap Things To Do” - toured to St. Louis in Fall 2018. They partnered with Troop 6000, a Girl Scouts program that supports girls experiencing homelessness in the NYC area, and most recently partnered with Rebel Girls Productions to write movement activities for their most recent chapter book, “Alicia Alonso Takes The Stage,” published worldwide August 2020.
