The Jumbo's Clown Room icon who is L.A.'s best-kept Pilates secret

She works late. A fewer weeks ago, connected a Saturday night, Ashley Hayward was “in the pocket” onstage astatine Jumbo’s Clown Room — that elusive, divine authorities of being that each performers chase, wherever creator and assemblage merge. From the stage, she spot into a banana earlier spitting it into a woman’s mouth, sealing it with a kiss. The assemblage erupted into cheers. Later, she reappeared successful a nun’s habit, peeling it disconnected to uncover achromatic vinyl lingerie. The assemblage gawks astatine her — devout eyes wide, lips parted arsenic if witnessing a miracle.

“I was successful the pouch the full night,” Hayward recalls. “I got onstage the archetypal time, got them and I had them the full night. Those are the peculiar nights due to the fact that you’re creating thing together.”

By day, Hayward leads a antithetic benignant of performance, teaching Pilates astatine WundaBar’s mirrored workplace successful Los Feliz. She leads the people with the aforesaid condemnation she embodies arsenic a dancer. In a achromatic headset acceptable for a popular star, she paces astir the workplace successful a achromatic unitard, starring the people done repetitions and poses.

“Ashley, you look similar Madonna!” 1 of her students excitedly shouts astatine the extremity of class. The people has garnered a cult pursuing among Pilates students who are fans of the dancer’s nighttime antics. Hannah Benson is simply a regular astatine Hayward’s class. “There’s much fluidity to her Pilates routines akin to dancing — she understands however a assemblage people moves successful a mode that makes maine consciousness much comfy successful my own,” Benson says.

The Oregon autochthonal moved to Los Angeles to prosecute a vocation successful euphony and dance. “I felt that commercialized creation was precise restricting. I conscionable wasn’t uncovering my groove.” She began exploring burlesque. Soon, friends recommended she creation astatine the iconic burlesque dive barroom Jumbo’s Clown Room. “It changed everything for me. It was the archetypal clip I was capable to creation full-time,” she says. Since 2018, Hayward has been a beloved dancer astatine Jumbo’s Clown Room. “I’m precise grateful that I recovered that space, due to the fact that we person a batch of state there.”

“It changed everything for me,” says Ashley Hayward. “It was the archetypal clip I was capable to creation full-time.”

In caller years, Hayward has go a fixture of the city’s nightlife scene. Since 2017, she has besides fronted a unrecorded “rock ’n’ rotation sleaze” amusement called Night Scene, anchored by a unrecorded band, Night Boys, and featuring burlesque dancers. The chaotic unrecorded amusement pays homage to DIY punk scenes similar nary different successful town.

”Night Scene is thing that doesn’t exist, astatine slightest successful L.A.,” she said. “I consciousness similar determination was a spread there, and I wanted to capable it.” The amusement is preparing for its biggest amusement yet, Jan. 21 astatine Zebulon successful Silver Lake. “It’s a large country to fill. But we merit to beryllium connected a large stage,” she explains.

Hayward archetypal fell successful emotion with Pilates successful precocious schoolhouse and rediscovered it aft the pandemic. After taking classes astatine WundaBar, she was drawn to the studio’s travel and style. “I felt I had learned everything arsenic a student, but I wanted to spell deeper,” she explains. “The champion mode to bash that was to beryllium an instructor.” With the workplace owner’s encouragement, Hayward got certified and began teaching Pilates classes.

Students successful Ashley Hayward’s Pilates people usage escaped weights connected reformers.

As a dancer, Pilates was a earthy acceptable for Hayward. Pole dancing tin beryllium hard connected the body. “Working astatine Jumbo’s with the rod — it’s precise hard. It takes a batch of strength. So for me, it’s a no-brainer,” she says.

The affirmative power of Pilates has echoed passim each parts of Hayward’s life. She developed much self-assurance arsenic a dancer and performer. “I person gotten truthful overmuch stronger since I started Pilates, and it has helped maine onstage,” she says. “I’ve integrated it into my signifier persona arsenic well, which is truly nice, due to the fact that present I’m much comfy connected the microphone.”

Hayward has a unsocial teaching flair, 1 inspired by her clip arsenic a dancer. “I effort to marque it energetic. I emotion the euphony loud,” she says. “I deliberation that comes done with maine moving astatine Jumbo’s and being a performer.”

Ashley Hayward’s Pilates students praise her euphony and energetic style.

Hayward’s people champions a health-focused attack to carnal results. “Working retired is ever going to beryllium bully for your brain, and that’s the champion anti-aging instrumentality we have.” She encourages her students to follow that mentality. “My assemblage and everything changed erstwhile I changed my mentality. I started thinking, I’m present due to the fact that it’s bully for me. I’m not present due to the fact that I privation to punish myself,” she says.

Brooke Noonan, a pupil of Hayward’s Pilates class, says that Hayward offers corrections gracefully, without drafting attraction to mistakes. Hayward’s impeccable DJing skills are a bonus. “The euphony is ever amazing. Ashley intelligibly has a large past of going to raves — playing location classics and heavy cuts,” says Noonan.

“I’ve integrated it into my signifier persona arsenic well, which is truly nice, due to the fact that present I’m much comfy connected the microphone,” says Ashley Hayward.

While having a vibrant nightlife and waking up for a sweat-inducing workout whitethorn look similar a contradiction, Hayward sees them arsenic complementary. “I privation to animate radical that you tin person both. You tin beryllium successful some worlds,” she says. “There tin beryllium a batch of precocious hours and substances involved. It tin beryllium an unhealthy lifestyle, but you tin beryllium steadfast and successful nightlife.”

In the coming years, Hayward aims to grow her fittingness career. Aside from teaching astatine WundaBar and offering backstage training, Hayward aspires to person her ain abstraction and make her ain workout method. “A imagination of excavation has ever been having my ain workout method,” she says. “Being successful nightlife and fitness, I’m capable to bring successful each radical and marque it inclusive. The aboriginal for maine would decidedly beryllium having my ain method and teaching each forms, and conscionable getting radical truly inspired astir moving.”

Until then, Hayward tin beryllium recovered astatine WundaBar connected Mondays and Fridays. Later successful the evening, she’ll beryllium connected the mirrored signifier of Jumbo’s Clown Room. “While I whitethorn look retired connected the extracurricular similar your emblematic Pilates instructor, my benignant and what I bring to it are truthful different.”