Ashley McManamay will serve as the Director for the Sewanee Dance Conservatory, beginning in August.  Ashley was born and  raised in Northern Virginia, and her training, passion and love for dance began at age 3. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and modern at her local studio as well as at conventions and intensive programs all over the east coast.  She has over a decade of dance instruction experience in addition to experience in community theatre.

Ashley attended Shenandoah University where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. While at Shenandoah, she received the Dance Ensemble Award and had her choreography featured at festivals in Northern Virginia. Upon graduation, Ashley auditioned for Stiletto Entertainment and had the privilege of working for Holland America Line. Dancing on cruise ships for 7 years, she is returning to Sewanee after traveling the world dancing in production shows as well having served as Dance Captain and Company Manager for traveling companies.

In 2013, Ashley ended her career on ships and moved back to her hometown of Centreville, Virginia.  She returned to teaching at Encore Performers, where she grew up dancing. At Encore, she was the Assistant to the Director in their Performing Arts Company.  Ashley has always had a passion for dance and teaching and is so excited to be a part of the Sewanee Dance community.  She is coming to Sewanee to join her fiancé, David Jenkins, head baseball coach at Sewanee.

The Sewanee Dance Conservatory has enjoyed a meaningful relationship with Alabama Youth Ballet Theater over the last several years and hopes to continue to partner with AYBT for future Nutcracker performances.