PROGRAM DIRECTOR
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Ashley Benninghoff is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher, living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She began her dance training at The Fort Wayne Ballet. While there she performed lead roles in The Nutcracker, Paquita, and Sean Curran’s A Soldier’s Tale. She was selected to travel abroad as a representative of the Fort Wayne Ballet as a part of their cultural exchange with Corppo di Ballo di Ragusa in Sicily, Italy. Ashley also attended summer workshops with Joffrey Midwest, Boston Ballet, and Dance Space in New York City. She continued her training at Southern Methodist University where she received a BFA in Dance Performance. While at SMU she performed in works by Martha Graham, trained under Larry White and Jeremy Blanton, and was selected to perform in original works by Robert Battle and Max Stone. She also produced a full length dance show of her original works entitled Sides, and was a nominee for the prestigious M Award.
She then moved to New York City, where she furthered her dance training at Dance New Amsterdam and Steps on Broadway. Ashley then moved to Indianapolis, became a member of the (Re)Collective Company, and received the Motus Award for Outstanding Choreography before becoming a Core Artist with them. While with Motus Dance, she choreographed and performed in a number of shows, and was in charge of the Work Study Program, Outreach opportunities, and taught Modern and Ballet. Mrs. Benninghoff taught and choreographed for the Lawrence Central High School Dance Program, and The Dance Refinery, teaching ages four through adult. She choreographed award winning pieces for their Regional and National competitions. Ashley is currently an Artist in Residence with Indy Convergence, a non-profit Indianapolis based arts organization dedicated to the growth of artists and their communities. She travels with Indy Convergence to their annual residencies in Toronto, and Oban Haiti. In Haiti she worked and performed with Gran Lakou, Haiti’s nationally recognized folk dance troupe.
Ashley has come back to Fort Wayne to share her talents and experience with the community she grew up in. She has performed with the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, dAnce.Kontemporary, and choreographed for Three Rivers Music Theatre. Ashley started working with Fort Wayne Dance Collective as an onsite and outreach teacher in 2015. She currently helps run and performs with the FWDC Touring Company, and is the Director of the Pineapple Dance Project, where she has the honor of working with aspiring creative voices.