For almost 13 years, Beyoncé toured the world and performed on the stage with Ashley Everett by her side. A dancer from California, Ashley was handpicked by Beyoncé’s choreographer Frank Gatson, Jr at the age of 17 to dance for Beyoncé, leading the teenager to make the huge decision to drop out of the acclaimed Juilliard School to join The Beyoncé Experience Tour.
After two years of mentorship by Frank and Beyoncé, Ashley was named dance captain for the superstar, and across the next decade Ashley would see Beyoncé through highs and lows, including the 2012 birth of her daughter Blue Ivy with husband Jay-Z, who Ashley herself mentored and taught in dance.
It’s a full circle moment that has left Ashley “so proud”.
“I feel proud because she used to come in and ask: ‘Where are the girls?’ She wanted to hang out with the girl dancers, and we would teach her things like ballet,” Ashley told HELLO!
“Even back when she was a little toddler hanging out backstage – we were basically babysitting! Beyonce’s like, ‘Girl, go get out of here, go with the dancers,’ and we would have a time with her!” Ashley added.
© Sports Illustrated via Getty ImaThat toddler curiosity eventually blossomed into a record-breaking career.
Her cries were used on her father Jay-Z’s 2012 track “Glory”, which earned her a Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to have an entry on a Billboard chart, and at the age of seven she won the Best Music Video at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards alongside her mom Beyoncé, Wizkid and Saint Jhn, for the song “Brown Skin Girl,” making her the youngest individually credited Grammy Award recipient ever.
© Getty Images for CoachellaIn 2023 Blue began performing on stage with her mother with the Renaissance tour, and now 13, Blue is a full-time dancer for the Cowboy Carter Tour, which ran between April and July 2025. In 2024, she also made her film debut in Mufasa: The Lion King, as a voice actress portraying Princess Kiara.
“I’m so proud to see her growth and progress, and not surprised to see her fall in love with the craft,” shares Ashley. “She’s always loved it from day one.”
© Getty ImagesAshley was speaking on the red carpet for the American Ballet Theatre’s Holiday Benefit in Los Angeles. A trained dancer, Ashley used a lot of ballet techniques with Beyoncé, and believes ballet teaches dancers technique that is important for all, no matter what part of the dance industry one may end up in.
“Beyoncé is such a sponge, so being in a room with a superstar who’s a sponge also and not afraid to be a student to everyone is so inspiring,” said Ashley. “It made me a student for life.”
© FilmMagicIt’s a trait Blue has also picked up, as criticisms of her performance during the 2023 Renaissance tour motivated her to train harder and not quit.
In her 2023 concert film, Beyoncé revealed to the cameras that the then-11-year-old was affected by online critiques of her dancing but that she was determined to prove naysayers wrong. Jay-Z also admitted that he gets “goosebumps” when he watched his eldest walk out on stage.
“She’s been born into a life she didn’t ask for,” he told CBS Mornings. “So since she was born, she’s been in scrutiny, and the public eye, and everyone having an opinion of even how [a little girl] keeps her hair. So for her to be on that stage and reclaim her power, and the song is called ‘My Power,’ you can’t write a better script.”
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