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Ashley Green takes the stage and takes control
Junior, Ashley Green, has been a part of GHS' dance for three consecutive years and plans on being a dance teacher in the future. Photo by Kelsey Haasch
Written by Staff Writer - Marli Mayon
Junior, Ashley Green, graced Gilbert High School’s dance concert “Culture Shock” on January 28 and 29 with two lyrical and two hip-hop performances. The concert celebrated Gilbert’s thirtieth year of on-campus dance classes and showcased Ashley’s consecutive three years of GHS dance lessons.
Ashley found an interest in dance after seeing an intermediate dance concert just before her freshman year that Linna Roso, her current dance teacher and inspiration, had produced. Coincidentally, Ashley remembers thinking, “I really want Mrs. Roso to be my teacher!” Having Roso as a dance teacher two years in a row has shown to benefit Green in more than just dance.
Ashley aspires to be a dance teacher with her own dance studio and owes much of that to her experience with Roso. Through teaching dance, Roso has helped Ashley focus her energy on the dance floor. She has become more disciplined and focused through the craft, and is grateful for the time Roso allows her to take and clear her thoughts in, through dance. Additionally, she is motivated to refrain from getting involved in typical dramatic high school distractions for the fear that Roso might be mad or disappointed. Roso was positive about the improvements Green has made.
“She’s grown as a person, she’s developed some skills to help her when those situations arise and she is actually able to work through it. The importance of dance in her life right now is helping to guide her and give her another outlet and avenue I think it’s really a saving grace. She’s done a lot of personal development thinking about it and thinking ‘what can I do to change it?’.”
The premier of the concert on Thursday, January 28 proved to be the better performance night in Ashley’s eyes, “Thursday everybody had more energy and everybody was more excited, by Friday it was like we were used to it.”
Ashley displayed a pink tutu and tiara in her first performance of the night, “Whatcha Want”, a hip-hop number choreographed by her sister Marie Burton. She said she enjoyed this performance the best and had the most fun with it; also that it was an added bonus that the costumes were cute.
“Till the End”, a lyrical number choreographed by Ashley herself, gave the performer a chance to be a leader and unleash her choreographing ability. Though it was not always easy for Ashley, considering her dancers didn’t want to work as hard as she wanted, she preserved and said it was a fun experience.
Through much of the success that dancing has brought Ashley she remains humble and appreciative of the benefits she has gotten out of dance. “I don’t play when it comes to dance; I am very serious about it.”
Ashley is encouraged by Roso and looks to her to help her and tell her what she needs to do to further grow as a performer. When asked to reflect on Green’s dancing, Mrs. Roso described Green as being “self taught” saying that, “she’s creative, she’s very passionate, and [she] has lots of energy in her movement, and just a lot of tenacity. She works, and works, and works until she gets it.”
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