Ballet Adjudicator 2023

Ashleigh started dancing aged seven in Gisborne, and hasn’t stopped since. First developing a passion for tap, she then trained in jazz, ballet, musical theatre, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary and sport aerobics. She has experimented with rock and roll, line dancing, ballroom, Latin, Irish and Highland, Ceroc, salsa, zouk, and west coast swing. 

Ashleigh gained stage experience at ballet, tap, and jazz competitions across the North Island, and achieved technical proficiency while completing BBO exams through Advanced 2. She was awarded five gold Dance Theatre Award medals, was runner up to the Intermediate BBO Dance Award in 2008 and was the recipient of the BBO Tap Award in 2009. 

Ashleigh has taught dance for over fifteen years and her many successful students are a source of great pride. Ashleigh now lives in Wellington, where she teaches across all styles and ages at Move It Danceworks. She is Treasurer of Upper Hutt Competitions Society, helping to run their tap and jazz competitions four times a year. 

Ashleigh's other dance-related interests include sequining and costuming, studying positive coaching environments and learning to read and write in different dance notation languages.

Ashleigh is currently completing a Diploma in Dance Teaching through bbodance. She is particularly passionate about creating a safe and healthy dance world where dancers are empowered to understand.