Who is Beyonce’s Lead Dancer?
For many people, the name Beyonce is synonymous with success. But not everyone knows that Queen B isn’t the only creative force behind her successes–the singer and actress relies on a team of talented background dancers to bring her visions to life.
One of these dancers is Ashley Everett, who’s been a lead dancer alongside Beyonce for over a decade. With her dazzling red tresses, Everett’s a fixture of Beyonce’s artistic vision. She’s been a staple of her stage and video performances, appearing in every single music video she’s released since 2007.
The California native moved to New York when she was 17 to pursue a professional dance career. She trained at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she met Beyonce’s choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. After a few auditions, Everett dropped out of the Juilliard School to join Beyonce’s 2007 “The Beyonce Experience Tour.”
After being hand-selected by Gatson and the superstar, she went on to dance with Beyonce on all of her major tours, numerous TV commercials, and more than 20 music videos. And she’s a key player in the creation of her next album, Black Is King.
When she’s not dancing with Beyonce, Everett works as a freelance dancer and teaches at the YWCA. She’s also a host of a social media series that inspires young girls to express their emotions through dance.
Her Insta feed is always chock full of amazing choreography and killer outfits! She’s even engaged to fellow dancer Jaquel Knight.
There’s no question that she has a lot going for her, but Everett values her privacy and doesn’t want to share too much about her personal life with the public. That’s why she’s been so quiet about her engagement with her longtime friend and dancer John Silver, who pranked her into popping the question onstage to her song “Single Ladies” during Beyonce’s Formation World Tour in 2018.
Aside from being her lead dancer for “Already,” she is also the founder of Africa’s Very Own (AVO), a dance group that she formed with her brother Papi Ojo. He’s a Nigerian born dancer who has worked with Beyonce in the past, including on the Spirit soundtrack and at the 2018 Grammy Awards.
Papi is a huge fan of Beyonce and is incredibly proud to be a part of her journey, especially after being recognized for his hard work on the ‘Already’ video. He says he’s always been good at dancing but only took it seriously after becoming a member of AVO.
In the video, he and Beyonce performed together as well as dancers from DWP Academy. He’s also featured in Beyonce’s “Amazing” and ‘Sasha Fierce’ music videos, as well as the Lion King soundtrack.
He’s also a member of the AVO group with his brother Papi Ojo, who is an Afro-Nigerian dancer and co-founder of AVO.
During a recent interview with Billboard, Everett opened up about her viral proposal and shared some of her feelings about the whole situation. She said, “I was so emotional, but I had to do it for the people who had been waiting for me.”
