Asha Gangolli, a native of Evanston IL, began her dance training locally with Kerry Hubata and Bea Rashid. As a student she trained across the U.S. with Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, and as a trainee with The Joffrey Ballet under the tutelage of Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik. During this time she worked and performed with the company in Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker, as well as Stanton Welch’s La Bayadere and Krzysztof Pastor’s Romeo and Juliet. Asha joined Alabama Ballet in 2014 and was promoted to a company dancer in 2017. Since then she has enjoyed performing principal roles including Sugar Plum Fairy and Coffee in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Rancher’s Daughter in Agnes De Mille’s Rodeo, Fourth Movement Principal in George Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Long Tall Sally in Dennis Nahat’s Blue Suede Shoes, Barbara Allen in Christopher Bruce’s Sergeant Early’s Dream, and Lady Jane is Christopher Bruce’s Rooster. Asha is on faculty at the Alabama Ballet School and also teaches classical Pilates in the Birmingham area.