Ashreale McDowell

Assistant Artistic and Executive Director

(Pronoun: She, Her)

Ashreale is a native of St. Louis, MO. She discovered her passion for dance at Central Visual and Performing Arts high school and was awarded a pre-professional scholarship to the Center of Creative Arts (COCA). Despite the struggles of starting dance at a late age, COCA helped her to grow and develop her technique.

She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Dance with an emphasis in Modern Dance, from Webster University. It was there at Webster where she was able to deepen her training and discover her artistry as a mover and performer.

She has had the wonderful opportunity to work with artists such as Alicia Graf (Alvin Ailey), Antonio Douthit-Boyd (Alvin Ailey), Kirven Douthit-Boyd (Alvin Ailey), and Leonard Cruz (Bill T. Jones). As a teenager she performed in AIDA and High School Musical at The Muny, America’s oldest and largest outdoor theater. She has performed in The Wiz and The Black Nativity with The Black Rep of St. Louis. Ashreale has also studied and performed in Italy.

She has trained and performed with Beyond Measure Dance Theater under the Executive and Artistic direction of Alicia Sunshine Gbaho. In 2015, Ashreale became a company dancer with Consuming Kinetics Dance Company under the Executive and Artistic direction of Arica Nyamsi. In the Fall of 2016, she made her debut as a choreographer in Consuming Kinetics Dance Company's professional Concert, Take Root. In the Spring of 2018, Ashreale became the Assistant Artistic Director of Consuming Kinetics Dance Company. She maintained her leadership role until the Spring of 2022 when she became a mom to a beautiful baby boy.

Ashreale embarked on her new journey in life as a mother. She and her new family moved to Ashland, OR in November 2022. Since then she has had the wonderful opportunity to step back into dance! She is now a company dancer with TANDEM Dance Collective under the Executive and Artistic direction of Catherine Raupp. Ashreale has also started her own business, Take Root Dance LLC, inspired by CKDC’s Fall of 2016 concert.