Studio Director, Ashley Barnes

     ASHLEY BARNESis Celebrating 13 Years as 
    Owner & Artistic Director of 
    The Dance Element
    dance studio in Wilmington NC.

    Ashley is a fun and inspiring teacher and mentor, who motivates dance students and aspiring artists to achieve their very best.  

    A passionate dancer and multimedia artist, Ashley earned a BFA in Fine Art & Dance Performance from East Carolina University. 

    She was honored with the 2018
    Arts in Wilmington Award for   “Individual Artist,”     a category reserved for artists of exceptional talent and creativity, in any discipline, whose contributions to the arts have helped guide and influence directions, trends and aesthetic practices.   

    In 2016, Ashley was the recipient of the YWCA Lower Cape Fear "Women of Achievement" Award for the Arts.  

    She was awarded a regional artist project grant from the Wilmington arts council in 2015.

    She is driven by her desire to create, and has yet to find an artistic project she cannot conquer.

    Ashley's fine art works are focused in the areas of drawing and painting, as well as sculpture, fabrication, and just about anything else!  She especially enjoys creating specialty costumes and intricately detailed marionettes.    
    Ashley builds these creatures entirely by hand, without the use of an existing pattern or a sewing machine.  She begins with a drawing, and then constructs these wearable artworks using a variety of fabric and other materials.
    Ashley Barnes performs
    Worn Out Shoes 2016 
    Ashley began her dance training with the Goldsboro Civic Ballet at the age of two.  
    She grew to become a Senior Company Dancer with the Goldsboro Ballet as well as Artistic Productions of Goldsboro & Kinston. 

    She is proficient in Classical Ballet & Pointe, as well as Modern & Contemporary Dance, Tap, Jazz, and a variety of other dance styles.     
    Ashley Barnes performs
    Pony Express  2019
    Throughout high school and college Ashley trained in the dance studio as many as 6 days a week and attended an intensive dance program every summer. 

    She was accepted to the NC Governor’s School for Dance in 1999.

    Ashley has performed many lead roles in dance and theatre productions. 

     Some of her favorites include:  

    Louise in Carousel,     Eliza in The King and I, Anastasia in Cinderella,   Jitterbug in The Wizard of Oz, and the Red Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. 

    Ashley performed in 18 annual productions of The Nutcracker. 

    She has danced nearly every role in the ballet including:
    Clara, Mouse King, Arabian,
    & Snow Queen.

    She has also provided choreography for this holiday ballet four times, for performances by three different dance schools in Eastern NC.


    Ashley is currently dancing professionally as a corps member of Forward Motion Dance Company and frequently performs throughout the Wilmington NC area.


    Ashley is certified in the Cecchetti Method of Classical Ballet, and has over 20 years of experience teaching ballet and other dance styles, to students of all ages and levels of experience. 

    She is a fun and inspiring mentor, who motivates her ballet and dance students to strive for excellence. 

    Ashley's students have been accepted to several prestigious summer intensives and year-round dance programs, throughout the country.

    Ashley served as Choreographer for Stagestruck & Center Stage Theatre for nine musical productions including such favorites as:

    Lil' Abner,
    Into the Woods,
    Guys and Dolls, 
    and The Wizard of Oz.

     She was honored with the Herman Award for Outstanding Choreography six times between 1998 and 2007. 

    In 1995, Ashley founded the Goldsboro Silver Tappers a nonprofit tap dance ensemble for seniors, with her Grandmother and lifetime role model, Grace McEvoy. 

    Ashley helped these dancers achieve both regional and state awards in the NC Senior Games.

    The development of this project led to Ashley being selected as the winner of a National Scholarship from the Target Corporation.
         Over 20 years later, 
    The Silver Tappers ensemble 
    is still dancing and performing!
    Ashley had the honor of holding several National Preliminary pageant titles, and she enjoys providing pageant coaching and talent choreography for girls of all ages! 

    She encourages contestants to achieve success through the use of goal-setting strategies and positive self-talk. 
    Ashley strongly believes that the most important aspect of any competition is HAVING FUN with the preparation,
    the process, and the performance.     
    Dancing with the Wilmington Stars 2017

    Ashley Barnes performs with attorney,  Robby Collins     in this benefit for
    St. Mary's School in Wilmington NC.
    dmle_class="true"> View the Wilmington Star News Photos from this fun local event!
    As Artistic Director of The Dance Element & Element Productions Inc, some of Ashley’s largest creative projects have involved unique adaptations of classic children’s literature, and the choreography of a cast of dancers to perform in her incredible hand-made costumes.  
    Ashley often incorporates the use of film and other media to enhance the production design, and she loves adding subtle, humorous details to her adaptations, to surprise and delight audience members.


    Some of Ashley's original dance adaptations include:   
    Maurice Sendak's
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Washington Irving's 
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    and the folktale Chicken Little.
    In 2012 Ashley wrote a new version of Charlotte's Web, adapting it for the stage.

    She commissioned the composition of an original score of music,
    written by Wilmington NC based artist, Brian "Juice" Raynor.

    The music was performed by five local musicians and paired with a narration read by Ashley and nine actors, each portraying a different character in the story. 

    The team went into Reid Recording Studio and created a professional recording of the unique original soundtrack, produced and mastered by Jeff Reid of Wilmington NC.  

    Ashley began creating costumes, and designing sets...
    and The Dance Element
    held an audition.
    After only four weeks of rehearsals, in August of 2012, Ashley Barnes & The Dance Element of Wilmington premiered an entirely original  dance production of this beloved classic story, showcasing the talents of 32 local children. 

    Four sold out performances delighted the Wilmington NC audience! 
    In May of 2014, a cast of 44 talented young dancers ranging in age from 5 to 16, put on incredible handmade costumes and took the main stage of Wilmington’s historic Thalian Hall to perform another of Ashley's  original productions,
    The Velveteen Rabbit.

    Awestruck audience members claimed this spectacular show to be "one of the best things they had ever seen performed in Wilmington" and referred to the stunning production as
    "a significant artistic work."

    The children in the cast shared an amazing performance experience they will surely remember for the rest of their lives. 
    Ashley traveled to New Milford, CT in 2014 and attended a summer intensive dance workshop with the world renowned Pilobolus Dance Company.

    In the summers of 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2019, Ashley attended the Dance Life Teacher Conference where she enjoyed four action-packed days dancing with master teachers including:

    Bruce Marks, Roni Mahler, Derrick Yanford, Joe Tremaine, Joe Lanteri,  Tim Fournier,  Eileen Juric, Diane Gudat, Andrew Nemr
    and many more of the dance industry's most renowned performers, artists, and educators.  

    Ashley's students are her greatest inspiration. 

    She is a talented and passionate teacher who motivates dancers
    to actively achieve their dreams.

    Ashley truly LOVES what she does, and hopes to never stop learning, growing, or dancing.  


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