Ashley Zimmerman: A Spirited Circus Journey
The first thing you will most certainly notice about Ashley Zimmerman is her mane of bright red hair. You might assume that someone who chooses such an eye-catching accessory would have a matching personality–loud, garish, or challenging. Yet Ashley’s steady, calm, and charming demeanor is infectious. She exudes honesty, is direct, and well spoken.
“I’m Ashley. I’m an aerialist and dancer. I grew up at a local studio doing ballet, tap, and jazz. I have a degree from Point Park University, a BA in jazz, specifically. After graduation, I quickly moved to New York City.” Five years there led to her first cruise ship contract where she was introduced to circus and aerial. “The aerialists are so beautiful,” she thought, “so talented, so strong. I could also see how dance is a transferable skill to aerial, and I wonder if I could do that too.”
She took her first aerial class in 2019. When the pandemic hit, she reconsidered her career. Dance was no longer as fulfilling as it once was. She decided to pivot and focus solely on circus and aerial training.
Using gym equipment at her parents’ house, she completed a self-guided training program by Elizabeth and Guilhem Cauchois. Building rote strength made stepping back into the studio easier. She was able to accomplish the much coveted skill of a straight-arm-straight-leg inversion during lockdown alongside teaching English online and getting certified as a personal trainer. Focusing solely on strength training she quickly learned that “technique and strength are different things. You can’t always throw muscle at your problems. Just because you’re strong enough to do something doesn’t mean you can do it the right way. It still takes time, practice, and working correctly. Being patient with the process is important.”
As people started to emerge from shutdowns, Ashley took as many aerial classes as she could and cross-trained at playgrounds. I asked if she had a specific goal at this point in her new career. “I sure did! My big dream was: I want to work on a cruise ship as an aerialist. If I can do that, then I’ve made it. That was the ceiling for me coming into this so late.” She started when she was 26. “If I can do cabaret and nightlife in New York, that would also be great, but working on a cruise ship is the dream.” Did you think beyond that, I asked. After a brief pause she answered, “No.” We had a laugh at the succinctness of her answer.
Her hands carved space—pinched fingers made points of a constellation, clear lines were drawn between them as the chronology of her story progressed. Wide, energetic palms opened as she examined the potential for a new career. “I auditioned for Virgin Voyages in early 2022, and I got the job! That was my first circus audition.” In her calm, casual way with a hint of joy as she relived the moment she said, “and that was really, really cool. After that contract, I thought, I can reach higher. I need a new dream!” She described how she doesn’t “believe in the hierarchy in jobs, except for your own personal weight you give to each one.” It wasn’t about besting the cruise ship contract, but trying something different—a horizontal value system that honors the uniqueness of each engagement.
Christmas Kool-Aid
Next on the list: a circus Christmas show. Previously, she had hesitations about dancing in a holiday ice production. “I thought I was going to hate it, and I literally loved every moment of it. I drank the Christmas Kool-Aid!” Two holiday seasons with Cirque Dreams checked off the Christmas wish. Eyeing international shows, the list lengthened: Perform In Dubai. Joining the cast of Elysion in Abu Dhabi was close enough—check! Which brings us to Ashley’s present contract with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
Of all the interviews I have conducted for Circus Talk (one of StageLync’s predecessors) only a handful have been with people who I knew prior to the conversation. This conversation is an outlier still. Ashley and I met in January when she joined the tour as a featured aerialist. Touring accelerates one facet of a relationship: during work hours, it’s easy to get to know someone energetically, their habits, their patterns. But the daily routines of tour life can create a slippery surface on which you can readily skate over the richness and depth of the people around you. The in-between and after-hours moments are the wonderful pockets of time when you really get to know the folks you’re working and living with.
Before this conversation, I could attest that Ashley is a consistent artist. Her act is always clean and her stage presence bright. In rehearsals and training she is easy going, adaptable, never shy to ask for what she needs. Now, I can say without hesitation that Ashley is also incredibly professionally determined. One interpretation of her story is that jobs have come easily to her, but there has been immense, daily work underlying these opportunities. Her career trajectory has been purposeful and unhurried. I was struck at how linear and singular her goal setting has been. “There is a quote that I heard on a podcast that went something like, adulthood is setting arbitrary goals and then achieving them. Sometimes the goals feel arbitrary,” she said. Yet with full focus on one goal at a time, she has had great success.
Ashely subscribes to a group called Amplified Artists run by Jim Cooney. The site has courses and seminars tailored to performing artists. She spoke highly of the community as a go-to support system to navigate the business of being an artist. “One of the biggest things talked about is that it doesn’t matter how big you get in your career, you’re still going to have moments where you’re not booking work as consistently as you want. Keep updating everything, keep sending things out, and know that you’re not above anything. Don’t think,I got this job, I’ve made it, and now all the other jobs will come to me because I did this one thing. Not how it works, right? Nothing’s forever. I wish this was communicated early on to me in my performing career: being in the performing arts is job searching 100% of the time. It doesn’t matter if you have a steady job or steady show. You don’t know–anything can happen.”
Follow up!
Ashley applied for Ringling multiple times. Most recently, it was in response to a casting call for a replacement aerialist. Five weeks went by. She hadn’t heard back. She assumed the position had been filled but noted an upcoming audition in Vegas. She followed up. “I said,Hello! I assume you have found the artist for the replacement aerialist position. Congratulations! I’d still like to attend the in-person audition. And then I got a reply!” The audition was a success. “The lesson is: follow up. Don’t wait five weeks. Follow up sooner. Wait a week—maybe two, if you’re feeling sheepish. Just because you send an email doesn’t mean you get a response. Just because you send a follow-up doesn’t mean you get a response. But follow up! It’s the biggest advice that I have.”
Other gems of wisdom popped up in our conversation: saying no is hard, as is breaking away from the starving artist mentality of taking everything that comes your way because you feel like you have to. “Saying no is a good thing to do—to own your worth, and know your worth, and to not settle. Owning your worth will help you book ‘better’ jobs, better paying jobs, or jobs that give you the respect that you’re looking for.” To balance this, Ashley mentioned, “Don’t knock it till you try it!” The cruise ship gig that sparked her aerial career was not appealing at first. “For the longest time, I was very anti-cruise ship. I thought,I’m going to hate that. And I ended up loving it and wanting to do more of it!”
Between contracts Ashley stays focused. “There are other ways I can further my career. I’m thinking a lot about being intentional with social media—updating my website and marketing materials so that the package I’m offering is reflective of who I am, what I have to offer, and trying to convince people to care about what I’m showing them–proving that I am fulfilling a need that you have.”
With many high profile gigs under her belt, I was curious, what’s the perfect next job? “I’d love to perform my dance trapeze act–I miss it right now on Ringling–and to be a character, but more specifically, a whimsical, youthful, innocent character.” I wasn’t surprised to hear this. Often bubbling beneath her even-keeled exterior, there is a gleefulness. She would suit a character full of whimsy and curiosity to a tee. Many movers are timid to speak on stage as it is not readily part of dance or aerial training, but Ashley has done it before and would not be shy to take on a speaking role.
Thriving on Tour
The multi-layered life of a performing artist comes with many hats. Touring adds further complexities. Having done many different types of tours—single night engagements, week-long stays, longer sit-downs—I asked Ashley for wisdom from the road. “The overarching theme and most challenging part of tour is food. Finding food you want to eat, food you will actually eat, food that you want in your room. You can eat out, but that gets expensive. The most challenging were the one-nighters or being in a place for three days.” She told me about suitcases becoming makeshift, under-bus refrigerators to transport perishables from if the show was traveling in cold climates.
Timing is key: how long is the ride? Is there a food stop? What time do you arrive? Standard amenities become pots of gold. A tiny freezer in your hotel mini fridge opens a treasure trove of culinary possibilities. “Use it just for the novelty of different foods,” she recommends. But the gold standard on tour is healthy go-to snacks. Recent favorites have been bell peppers and hummus, spinach and tuna.
Another lifestyle consideration is relationships: you live with your colleagues, you work with your friends. Ashley recommends making sure you get personal space and being amenable to others’ needs. “Take a little extra time and care to be conscious of what is happening around you. What are the small changes that you can make to adjust to other people? Try not to take things personally, while also maintaining your sense of self. Know what you need to survive and thrive on tour.”
Tour takes a toll, and sometimes getting off the road is the best choice. One of the hardest things Ashley has done is turned down a contract with Virgin Voyages. It was time to be in one place for a while. “I needed to be home, on land for a bit. Being at sea does make me a little crazy, and I needed time to reset. The circumstances of the contract plus the lack of time home equaled saying ‘no’. That was a really difficult moment. I think that was the first time I said no to a contract of that size, caliber, or length. That was so hard—the hardest thing I ever did.” The company did reach out to her again, and she accepted a future contract. So I asked, how do you say ‘no’ delicately enough so you don’t burn a bridge with an employer? “Express your gratitude, how positive your experience was with the company, and how you are really interested in coming back or working with them again even though the circumstances for this specific project are not right at this particular moment. Lots and lots of positivity!”
A Seat at the Table for Everyone
As we reached the end of our discussion, Ashley wanted to add, “One of my favorite parts about going on contracts with different people and different types of artists is picking up new skills. I love learning new things, even if I’m really bad at them at the start! I learned to juggle on Virgin Voyages, a tiny bit of double dutch on Cirque Dreams. I learned harness at Ringling.” Ashley admitted that she has a complicated relationship with silks. “I would like to mend my relationship with aerial silks. My past experience has been negative, and I disliked it. But I believe,” she sat up with effervescence, “in my heart that I can learn to like it under the right circumstances.” Hire Ashley for silks, we cheered together!
A beautiful exchange of skills, languages, and cultures happens during touring circus contracts, and Ashley would like the StageLync community to know, “There’s a seat at the table for everyone. There is space for you in the performing arts world and community, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to figure out what that place is, but trust that there is a place for you and what you have to offer is valuable.”
We have just a dozen shows left in our current Ringling season, and then Ashley and I will part ways for the foreseeable future. I have no doubt that she will continue to bring bright optimism and fierce dedication to her next contracts. I sincerely look forward to the next time our paths cross and sharing space at another circus table.
Main Image: AshleyZimmerman.Dance Trapeze during the Opening Number. Photo by Riley Williamson at Hampton Coliseum.
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Editor's Note: At StageLync, an international platform for the performing arts, we celebrate the diversity of our writers' backgrounds. We recognize and support their choice to use either American or British English in their articles, respecting their individual preferences and origins. This policy allows us to embrace a wide range of linguistic expressions, enriching our content and reflecting the global nature of our community.
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