When Ashley Zimmerman was 4 years old, she started taking ballet lessons
“I remember thinking it was the most fantastic thing ever,” said Zimmerman, a Conestoga High School graduate and native of Berwyn. “I figured this is what I was going to do my whole life.”
Zimmerman carried through on that promise. She continued dancing through her youth and eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts in dance at Point Park University.
“I trained in contemporary, jazz, modern, tap,” Zimmerman said. “I was doing pretty much anything.”
It led Zimmerman to perform as part of an immersive show on Virgin Voyages Cruise Lines, traveling the world for a year.
Something was missing, though. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Zimmerman found herself with plenty of time to think and, well, like many during that strange year, decided to try something different.
Zimmerman started training as an aerialist. She will be part of Cirque Dreams Holidaze at the Miller Theater from Dec. 26 to 31.Tickets are available at https://www.kimmelculturalcampus.org/events-and-tickets/2023-24/broadway/cirque-dreams-holidaze.
“Dance was no longer fulfilling me in a way that it used to,” Zimmerman said. “I think the pandemic changed a lot of things for a lot of people. I found that my interests led more with aerial and circus. I figured, well, now is the time.”
Zimmerman’s part is always a showstopper. She goes up to the highest heights and performs a different kind of dance while holding on to a single bar.
“In 2019, I was working on a cruise ship as a dancer and that’s where I first got exposed to aerial,” Zimmerman said. “It looked like a fun challenge. So, when I got home to New York I started taking classes at a local studio. Then, from there started doing training on my own.
“I found a coach that I really vibed with and kind of took off from there. It was a good time to train and rebuild, rather than search for work.”
Cirque Dreams is under the Cirque du Soleil umbrella. This year’s holiday show is kind of a Cirque takeoff on “The Nutcracker.”
“I see it as a loose interpretation of ‘The Nutcracker,’ but more like Broadway-style circus ‘Nutcracker,’ ” said Zimmerman. “We’ve got circus acts, we’ve got dancing, we’ve got vocalists, we’ve got a bunch of other things going on. It’s very visually stunning. There’s a lot happening, beautiful colors, beautiful costumes, a lot of fun, and something for everybody to kind of enjoy.”
One of the cool things for Zimmerman is she gets to come home for the holiday season. Cirque Dreams Holidaze has been traveling around the country.
“That is really neat,” Zimmerman said. “As a performer, you never know if you will be able to spend the holidays with family and friends. And, it’s great that it’s coming right here right after Christmas. So it’s like, everybody’s still in the holiday spirit.”
