About
Radiant Rhythm Initiative's goal is to provide tap dancers the opportunity to learn from some of the best professional tap dancers in today's industry by creating an atmosphere where dancers who attend our events can be challenged, stretched, and encouraged in their dancing. We help enable dancers to find role models and potential mentors to look up to and find guidance from inside and outside the classroom. Through our initiatives and events, our focus is to continue to push the art form of tap dance forward while connecting with the tap community here in Minnesota and the tap community that spans over the world.
Ashley Gonzalez
Founder and Director
Ashley Gonzalez is a tap dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She was born and raised in Central Minnesota. After attending her first tap festival in August 2013, Ashley began to pursue tap dance. From there, she started to attend tap festivals all around the U.S. to learn from professional tap dancers that were thriving in the tap industry. She began training under the direction of Chloe Arnold and Ricci Milan, growing and exploring in the art form. She expanded her training by studying under Sarah Reich and Aaron Williams where she has had a strong focus on technique and musicality, while continuing to travel all over the world to learn from other various tap professionals.
Ashley graduated from University of Northwestern- St. Paul with a double major in music with a vocal emphasis and business administration. She has a passion for rhythm and learning. She currently performs as a tap dancer with Rhythm Street Movement where she has been part of various shows and performances: Waking Up, Humbug, and various driveway tours. In past, she has performed at the 2018 Governors Ball Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, and the 2018 MLBA All Star Pre Party Concert in Washington DC. She has also performed in the Disney Newsies Broadway Musical at the University of Northwestern- St. Paul. In addition to this, Ashley has performed and competed internationally, receiving a bronze medal for her tap solo at the IDO World Performing Arts Cup in Seoul, South Korea. She also received a bronze medal at Dance World Cup Championships in Offenburg, Germany for a tap duet.
Along with her tap education, training, and performing, Ashley was chosen to represent the state of Minnesota as a tap dancer in the book Dance Across the USA by Jonathon Givens. Another honor she has been given was when she was chosen with a select few to sing with the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in 2018 in New York City. Some additional performances consist of Rejuv Medical Summit, Angel Foundation Charity event, and National Tap Dance Day to name a few.