Those shoes "have their challenges," he said, but it's all worth it: "Once you're up and once you start dancing, you're floating, and it feels like flying I think. Peter Boal, artistic director for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, told NPR "ballet can be a little slow," and when Edwards asked to study en pointe, "we said, 'Why not? Lead us and we will work with you.'" It usually takes several years of training before a dancer can put on their en pointe shoes, but after just six months, Edwards had the strength and technique necessary. Pacific Northwest Ballet School Professional Division student Destiny Wimpye (front row, third from left) and PNB apprentice Ashton Edwards (front row, fourth from right) with company dancers in. So I decided to explore." Because ballet has such clear divisions between male and female roles, Edwards didn't know if his school would be open to him dancing en pointe, and was thrilled when they were "open and accepting." Edwards, originally from Michigan, has been studying ballet since the age of 4, and is now an 18-year-old student in Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s professional division. "But I think my goals in life and in my career and who I saw myself as a person were much bigger than just one small box I was put in. Ashton joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2021 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2022. They studied at the Flint School of Performing Arts and Pacific Northwest Ballet and attended summer courses at Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Houston Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Ashton Edwards, an apprentice at Pacific Northwest Ballet, is part of a rising generation of gender nonconforming dancers questioning ballets rigid. "It took a lot of searching within myself," Edwards told NPR. Ashton Edwards (they/them) is from Flint, Michigan. He started studying classical ballet at 4, and after years of performing traditional male roles, Edwards became intrigued by the idea of trying something that is traditionally for women: dancing en pointe. Dancers Pacific Northwest Ballet Cassandra Lea-Saxton T16:27:52-07:00. Ashton Edwards is changing ballet for the better.Įdwards, 18, is a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Professional Division in Seattle.
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