Alexandra Asbury
On The Road Board of Directors
Term: January 2026 - January 2028
Alexandra's Story
Accident
At the age of nineteen, as a burgeoning ballet dancer at the beginning of a professional career, I broke my neck in a roll-over car accident in Oregon. I was en route to Salt Lake City to perform the lead role in the ballet Carmen. The injuries I sustained left me an incomplete quadriplegic. That was the end of my dance career and the start of the most challenging journey of my life.
Education
I received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and Social Change from Evergreen State College in 1991. I have also made significant progress toward a Masters of Public Administration at the same.
Expertise
I have extensive knowledge of state and local government agency organizations and operations gained from working as the sole Administrative Assistant and Project Specialist for the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Police Chief for a period of ten years.
Mission Statement: Dancing With My Chair
Dancing With My Chair is a registered charitable non-profit organization in Washington state.
Founded in October 2024, its Executive Director Alexandra V. Asbury had an epiphany. As a
former professional ballet dancer whose career ended due to a traumatic car accident, she always
kept her knowledge and passion for dance alive. She was within a year of graduating from the
University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts degree as a Ballet major when the accident occurred.
After being airlifted to a Level 1 trauma facility for life-saving medical intervention and an
innovative surgery to stabilize her pulverized cervical vertebrae, she recovered from her initial
diagnosis as a quadriplegic who would never walk nor dance again, to walk out of the hospital
three months later. With a barely noticeable compromised gait and some dexterity loss in her
right hand, she continued her recovery as an outpatient but was soon invited to teach and train at
her previous schools. Returning to dance was something she fought to regain, but the cervical
spial cord damage prohibited that from becoming a reliable occupation.
Having since taught ballet classes at six dance schools, she has experience sharing her expertise
with aspiring dancers of all ages. From beginners, both young and old, to advanced students who
have gone on to be hired by some of the world's finest professional dance companies, she enjoys
opportunities to rekindle her dance experience and provide quality training to anyone who is
interested in trying this beautiful performing art form. Alexandra has choreographed original
works for school recitals and reworked classical ballet variations to suit the abilities of her
students. She is trained in multiple techniques such as Balanchine, Bournonville, Royal
Academy of Dance and Cecchetti. Her training and performing led her to travel to many
countries and cities including her hometowns of Seattle and Olympia, Washington, Toronto,
Ontario in Canada, San Francisco, California and Salt Lake City, Utah.
In 2020, Alexandra lost her ability to safely ambulate and began using a power wheelchair for
mobility. She was disability separated from her employment in high-administrative positions,
including ten years as Confidential Program Specialist for the police, and as a Vice-President for
a local information technology company in Olympia, Washington. Alexandra taught ballet in the
evenings and on weekends, even after her transition to needing a wheelchair. In the spring of
2020, she had regained her confidence and accepted her new reality as a self-proclaimed
“Wheelie Bopper!” and founded her new initiative Dancing With My Chair with a small,
dedicated board of directors. Her charitable non-profit Articles of Incorporation filed with The
Washington Secretary of State Corporations and Charities Division describe its purpose as
follows:
“TO OFFER THE COMMUNITY AN EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE WITH OR
WITHOUT DISABILITIES, OR TO ANYONE WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM A FITNESS
CLASS WHILE SEATED. CLASSES WILL BE OFFERED VIA ZOOM OR IN PERSON BY
AN INTERNATIOALLY TRAINED PROFESSIONAL BALLET DANCER AND
INSTRUCTOR. MUSIC WILL BE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AGES AND GEARED BABY
BOOMERS, WITH A VARIETY OF MUSIC SPANNING MANY ERAS.”