your host
From Brian Grant’s “Tango for Those Forgotten” ~ (c) 2018, Sam English Photography
Asher Taylor-Dawson
(@danseurignoble in all kinds of places)
Uptight Ballet Boy. Aerialist. Half-baked choreographer. Terrible homemaker. Extra basic.
Married to a very patient man.
|Work
Dancer
Sonia Plumb Dance Company
Leigh Purtill Ballet Company
Louisville Co-Lab
Lexington Ballet Company (2017-2021)
Dancer & Aerialist
Turners’ Circus & Smile Parade (2020-2022)
CirqueLouis (2017-2022)
Suspend Performing Arts (2016-2018)
Instructor
School of Sonia Plumb Dance Company, 2022-Present
Danceworks Dance Center, 2022-Present
Frankfort School of Ballet, 2018-2023
Playthink Festival, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Choreographer
Louisville Co-Lab, Debut Show, 2022
Nutcracker, Frankfort School of Ballet, 2020 & 2021
Playthink Festival, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Americana Center Benefit Performance, 2017
Guest Artist
Leigh Purtill Ballet Company, Sweet Sorrow, September, 2022 (Romeo)
Playthink Festival, Mainstage FlowCase, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Nutcracker, Frankfort School of Ballet, 2020 (Nutcracker, Nutcracker Prince, Cavalier)
|Education
Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from Indiana University, 2015, with High Honors (GPA: 3.926/4.0).
|Other Stuff
Femme queer boy. Intersex(y). Cyclist. Artist.
Homemaker. Perfectionist. Radical Screw-Up. Spiritual seeker. Avid believer. Boring weirdo. Exercise in contradictions.
Stereotype. Defier of Stereotypes.
Ecstatically married to the love of my life (he’s a physical therapist; I’m his worst patient).
|Training
I trained in ballet, modern dance, and (occasionally) Broadway-style jazz with Louisville Ballet School . In addition to company classes with my current company, I regularly take class at Ballet Hartford.
I began my aerial training with Suspend Louisville in Louisville, KY, and am now training with Air Temple Arts in Woodbridge, CT.
Like most dancers, I don’t stop taking class just because I’m traveling … so when I’m in Chicago, I hit class at The Joffrey as often as I can, and when visiting the gulf coast of Florida I’ve found great instruction at Naples Ballet. If you’re looking for one of the best masterclasses going, check out Ballet Detroit.
My summer intensive experiences have included Lexington Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Mam-Luft&Co., and Pilobolus.
Rehearsing the Cinderella Pas de Deux with Eve-Marie Bessenbach,
July, 2018
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danseur ignoble 
Hey there! 🙂 Thought I’d trundle over here and say hello as well and be neighborly here on WordPress.
Since you’re also into the pro cycling scene, will you be posting about the Tour once it gets underway? It’ll be great to read your thoughts about the stages and the riders.
Oh, and good luck with the races! If you’re a newbie racer, I’m a newbie on the single bike, period. Just learned how to ride last year.
Wow, congrats on getting started riding!
I haven’t posted on the Tour in the past (because I am usually woefully bad at keeping up with what’s going on in the world in general), but I think I will this year. If nothing else, at very least a weekly ‘Voigt Report,’ LOL.
Speaking of Mr. Voigt, Radioshack-Nissan looks like a pretty strong team. Also, it cracks me up that if you look at the Riders’ List on the official TdF website, RNT includes one ‘GALLOPIN Tony.’
He must be pretty fast 😀
(Okay, okay, so I know that’s just his surname, but it still struck me as pretty funny.)
Hey, I need my weekly Dan Martin and Ryder Hesjedal reports as well (but I’m partial as a Garmin fan)! Too bad about RSNT and the recent in-team drama. I wonder now if Leopard and Radioshack would’ve been better off not merging, considering the resulting fallout.
I only hope that RNST manages to hold themselves together in the Tour. The Schleck – Bruyneel soap opera couldn’t be good for their morale, esp. with Andy now out of the Tour.
I’m doing better on the bike, but I still don’t have the skills to do hand signals. My left side (arm, hand, and leg) is weaker than my right, and I can’t control the bike when I try to lift my right hand to signal a right turn. I’m working on it, though.
I subscribed to your blog. Look forward to your ride and Tour updates! 🙂
I will make sure to keep track of the Garmin Guys as well 🙂
It does seem that merges sometimes lead to conflicts. Also, it’s somehow really weird to see only one Schleck brother riding, kind of like Super Mario Brothers without … I dunno, is Andy Mario or Luigi? I always kind of thought of him as “Player 1,” but that might only be a question of alphabetical order.
LOL, the “Schleck-Bruyneel Soap Opera” made me think, “All My Cyclists.”
Maybe that’s what I’ll call my Tour series 😀
Thanks for the follow!
Oh, btw — until you get your right-hand signal down, you can use the old-fashioned “stick left arm out, then bend to 90 degrees” signal. That’s still the “technically correct” one according to many states (based on the notion that if you’re in a car, your right arm is invisible), though many drivers don’t seem to grasp what it means anyway. But it’s a decent stop-gap, and I sometimes find myself using it when unexpectedly fumbling with water bottles.
Well, you know there’ll be plenty of “polemica” (love that term) once the race goes underway. Most likely between riders of diff. teams whining about dirty tactics or whatnot. “All My Cyclists” would have to be your pet name for Le Tour. 😀
TBH I’m glad that the Schlecks are separated. Frank, I know, can ride well for himself, but Andy tends to be – for lack of a better term – creepy clingy toward big bro. I don’t even know if Andy’s achieved anything significant without Frank there shepherding him around (or lending moral support). It’ll be interesting seeing how things play out in the race this year.
Sucks to be them, but having the usual odds-on favorites (A. Schleck and Contador) out of the race makes for a really exciting open race. I’d kill to see dark horses spoil the party while the media fawns all over Wiggins and Evans. 😀
Thanks for the tip on the hand signals! I’ll try that one. Oh, and you might have to break hubby’s heart regarding Jens’ retirement. I think this is his last Tour?
Jens cannot retire.
Ever.
It could be his last tour, though. He has been making noises about getting older, and I suppose he is like twice the age of half the field (I’m sure there’s a maths joke in there, somewhere). It would be sad to see him retire, but OTOH I’d like to see him go out strong rather than sort of petering out over the next ten (thousand) years. Plus, if he retires, maybe he’ll become a commentator and write inspiring and funny articles about pro racing. And maybe he’ll be able to come to my next birthday party! (Okay, that might be a long shot.)
It would be really great to see a herd of dark horses take the yellow jersey and the polka-dot jersey … and … erm … all the other jerseys!
You have a good point about Schleck-the-Younger. It will indeed, also, be interesting to see what Schleck-the-Elder does without him around.
Hello Asher! I look forward to really diving into your blog. Also, thank you for following my blog at Faith1st Ministry. I hope it has and will continue to be a major blessing in your life. May God richly bless you as you continue to write and blog. Please continue with us on this journey and remember to have Faith 1st. — Sebastian
Thanks very much, and tanks for following my blog as well! I find your words both inspiring and refreshing, and I look forward to reading more of your thoughts!
You’re welcome and thank you for your kind words! Blessings to you! –Sebastian
Be inspired!
Hi Asher, thanks for following my blog and I look forward to following your thoughts on yours. With best wishes, Phil Stanfield
How can i not follow? Both your art and your writing is phenomenal!
☆ヾ(*´・∀・)ﾉヾ(・∀・`*)ﾉ☆
Even more thanks! ^—^
I’ve been following you for quite a while…and today I’m nominating you for the Sunshine Blogger award thingie.
https://tempandtea.wordpress.com/2018/04/25/sunshine-blogger-award/
Thank you! <3<3<3
So Asher, I was finally able to attend a week-long ADULT BALLET intensive… in June of 2018 in Southern California… and it was great! Strike one off of my ballet bucket list 🙂
I’m based near Seattle and Sun King has not been back to Vancouver WA for a couple of years now.
But on the west coast in 2017, Charles Maple initiated a ‘camp’ for adults in Irvine Ca. His Maple Conservatory of Dance is a $6 Über ride away from a pretty basic Motel6 that stands beside a freeway and beneath the final approach for John Wayne Airport (Santa Ana Ca. SNA). A more expensive hotel is walking distance away. An hour’s transit bus ride from Huntington Beach pier (Surf City) 🙂 Excellent facilities. Canned music tracks not pianists. Options to attend regular serious adult classes that professionals and advanced students attend (who outnumber recreational adult class takers.)
There are two formats for adult intensives:
A – after business / work hours, so evenings
B – morning and afternoon studio access during the daytime
Somehow I think of B format as being the actual or real intensive experience… since you are following a company routine, namely, getting up and preparing for an a.m. pre-lunch 90 minute class. Quick nutrition break. Then afternoon sessions like variations, pas2, ballet history, rehearsals. But no performances in the evening to contend with. Recital Friday afternoon.
Reasonable fees and instruction. 5 thumbs up.
In Toronto, besides DanceTeq, the InStudio adult program of the National Ballet of Canada offers an ‘A’ schedule type single week long or double week long ‘intensive’. Hotel$$$ downtown galore. NBC is located on the lakeshore.
Oh, awesome! Yeah, B format is definitely your traditional intensive experience 🙂 That sounds great!
I’ll have to look at The Toronto options for next year–NBC has a formidable reputation!
Is it okay if I quote your comment directly (with credit, of course!) in an Intensives Round-Up type post? And if you’ve got a full review out there I’d love to link to it!
Hey June! Do you think that Maple would be suitable for a beginning adult? I have been classing for two months now (just over the hill from you in Central Washington) and would love to find a suitable “camp” for beginning adults. I am absolutely an adult, at age 61. I am also absolutely a beginner, not having danced since my wedding some 30 years ago. For me, Ballet is totally the new yoga. My body and spirit both love it. THanks for any suggestions you may have.
Hey, Asher here! Sorry it took me so long to approve this coment ^-^’ I’ve been buried in Nutcracker, and then in Holiday stuff, and then in post-Holiday/post-Nutcracker housekeeping. Welcome!
I have to catch up and reread June’s comment as well. My apologies to both of you!