Dance has been a part of my being, yearning to be released as long as I can remember. My inspiration is the joy and fulfillment I find in movement and creating sound. With every lesson I teach, I work to imbue each of my students with this same joy and fulfillment. I realized early that being able to teach what you know is where true understanding begins. I strive to provide opportunities within my residencies for this to take place. My lessons are designed to cater to the individual student’s strengths while giving them the tools for sociological and emotional growth. Via the platform of dance, students can easily find their weaknesses and develop them into strengths. Every child is a puzzle; solving/unlocking the puzzle gives access to the willingness, daring, and creativity of every child.
Ashiya K. Carter is a life long dancer and martial artist, having begun her training at a young age. She continued at Wake Forest University where she earned a minor in dance, her first love. Following college, she taught English as a Second Language. Ashiya then relocated to Los Angeles where she danced for Debbie Allen, The Lula Washington Dance Theatre, and Emmy award winning tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith. While in Los Angeles, she used her time not only to develop her talents as a dancer (studying Modern, Ballet, Tap, and Dunham among others), but also as a teacher when she began teaching for the Everybody Dance program in both their charter school andafter-school programs. In 2004 she was offered the opportunity to teach both dance and Tae Kwon Do in Hawaiʻi. Ashiya is the Director of her own Hana Martial Arts and Dance where she focuses on taking the arts to the rural communities, namely Hana.
The Artistic Teaching Partners (ATP) Roster is an adjudicated directory of Hawai‘i professional teaching artists qualified to conduct in-depth residencies in educational settings. Each artist or arts organization has a page in the directory with contact information, a short bio, and an artist statement. The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts draws from this roster for arts education programs including Art Bento at the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum and Artists in the Schools.
