Ashley Alondra Green ran around her Syracuse home at midnight on April 9, yelling and clapping. She couldn’t believe she’d been chosen to debut her full-length choreography at the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival — it was time to tell her story of rebirth, from what was nearly the end of her dance career.
Green has been a dancer even before birth; her mother said she was the most active of all her pregnancies. Green started formally training at age eight in various dance styles.
“First was modern and jazz, and then a year later, I just started to take everything,” she said. “So, ballet, African, hip-hop — you name it, I’m pretty sure I’ve done it.”
A knee injury in college, caused by a demanding schedule of training and classes, put Green on crutches, leaving her unable to dance for two years.
“The whole time, I just kept thinking, ‘God, please help me through this,’ because I really can’t imagine not having any involvement in dance or being able to dance again,” she said.
During that time, Green was guarded, unwilling to let people know what she experienced. She remained deeply involved in the dance world, observing classes and mentally noting areas she could improve if she were able to dance again. Luckily, she made a full recovery with the treatments and support from her loved ones.
When Green tried to dance for the first time after her injury, it was a mix of happiness and the struggle to relearn how to use her muscles.
“I remember I cried because I didn’t dance the same,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I was my old self.”
Green began retraining herself and exploring safer ways to dance. The following year, as she regained her strength, it was a new beginning. In 22 years of dance, choreography was always a passion, but Green had never created a full-length show.
She decided to challenge herself by creating a show that reflects the transition of her feelings from the injury, almost the “end,” to her current state, the “rebirth.”
Krump plays a crucial role not only in the show, but also in Green’s life — a dance style she never imagined herself doing until she met Rochester-based Elton Ward, an adjunct professor in the University of Rochester’s dance program who founded TruKrump Collective in 2023. Krump is a street dance characterized by its energetic and expressive movements, as well as aggressive presentation.
“Something that separates krump is the hype,” Ward said. “In the clips, you see people yelling and jumping up and down and pushing (others).”
Ward believes krump allows people to learn about themselves through reacting to said ‘hype.’ The “Tru” in TruKrump means “the real you.” Ward saw it as a space beyond training, where people could express themselves, while he also respects each dancer’s original style.
“(They) do contemporary, I do krump. There’s a performance. Let’s see how we can do something together,” he said.
With her performative training background, Green used to focus more on how she looked than how she felt. Krump pushed Green beyond her comfort zone by tapping into her emotions and helped her discover new ways of expression. It allowed her to release negative feelings and brought her to a new state of being.
That, she said, is how krump healed her — which makes sense to Ward.
“After you get all of that energy out, the only thing left to do is talk, and then you can be yourself in it,” Ward said. “A lot of people use it as therapy.”
Ward and TruKrump Collective fully supported Green when she shared her idea of creating a show based on her story. This also marks the collective’s debut in choreographing and performing a full-length show.
“As I created this show, I just killed myself all over again creating it,” Green said.
The more she opened up about vulnerability, the more she began to see it as a superpower. Now, she is presenting that vulnerable self onstage with “The Beginning After An End: The Rebirth” during Rochester Fringe Festival.
“But you can’t stay in what you’re feeling,” Green said. “You’ve got to move through it, keep pushing forward and think the best.”
Good job, Zora!
Thanks Warren!