Ashley Shaw (born 1990) is an Australian ballet dancer who regularly performs leading roles with Matthew Bourne's New Adventures. She debuted the leading role in Bourne's ''Cinderella'' in 2009. In 2016

Matthew Bourne Sir Matthew Christopher Bourne (born 13 January 1960) is a British choreographer. His productions contain many classic cinema and popular culture references and draw thematic inspiration from musicals, film noir and popular culture. Popular ...

cast her as Vicky Page in his adaptation of '' The Red Shoes''. Shaw played

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

in Bourne's 2022 ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'' staging. She has also danced the parts of

femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...

Lana in '' The Car Man'' and Princess Sugar in Bourne's ''Nutcracker!'', and appeared in his version of ''Swan Lake'' with all-male swans.

Early life and education

Shaw grew up in

Nelson Bay Nelson Bay may refer to: *Nelson Bay, New South Wales Nelson Bay is a significant township of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on a bay of the same name on the southern ...

, north of

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, and has danced since she was three years old. Her three siblings – two sisters and a brother – are also dancers. At the age of 12, Shaw decided to start full-time dance training in ballet, contemporary, and jazz, studying with

Marie Walton-Mahon Marie Walton-Mahon (born 14 September 1953) is an Australian ballet dancer, ballet teacher and adjudicator. She is the founder of National College of Dance, Marie Walton-Mahon Dance Academy and the founder of the Progressing Ballet Technique. ...

at her dance school in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. A recipient of the

Royal Academy of Dance The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...

Solo Seal, she was a semi-finalist at the

Genée International Ballet Competition The Genée International Ballet Competition is an annual international classical ballet competition organised by the Royal Academy of Dance of London, England. It is named for Dame Adeline Genée, and was first held in London in 1931. In 2019, i ...

in Athens, Greece. In 2005, at the age of 15, she left Australia to study at

Elmhurst Ballet School Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent boarding school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full acade ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England.

Personal life

In September 2022 at

Chelsea Town Hall Chelsea Town Hall is a municipal building in King's Road, Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London. The oldest part is a Grade II* listed building and the later part is Grade II listed building, listed. History The building was commissioned to replace ...

and

Hengrave Hall Hengrave Hall is a Grade I listed Tudor era, Tudor manor house in Hengrave near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England and was the seat of the Kitson and Rokewode-Gage baronets, Gage families 1525–1887. Both families were Roman Catholic recusant ...

, Shaw married Adam Maskell, a former dancer turned talent agent. The couple reside in Battersea.

References

External links

Ashley Shaw's profile
at New Adventures * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Ashley Living people Australian ballet dancers Australian expatriates in England Australian female dancers Contemporary dancers People educated at the Elmhurst School for Dance People from the Hunter Region 1990 births