Meet the Team

Ohana Team

From instructors to office staff, the team at Ohana works hard to make our studio space & community the amazing, welcoming, vibrant place that it is. We are more than a team; we are a family!

Ashley Kohl

Owner & Creative Director, Dance Instructor

Ashley Kohl started dancing at the New England Dance Conservatory at the age of 2. She was in the back line for her first dance on stage, but that didn’t stop her from pushing her way to the front line. She always knew she was meant to pursue performance and inspire others to be passionate about it. She went on to dance at “The Dance Shop,” where she studied ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and acrobatics under the instruction of Joy Barcome and Marianne Bouthilette. She continued dancing in their company until her Mom, Darlene Sattler, opened Technique Studio of Dance in 1997. She danced competitively for most of her childhood, traveling across New England to compete and perform.

Ashley began teaching and choreographing dance when she was 14 years old. She went on to attend Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School, where she was a member of Catalyst Dance Company. She traveled to conventions and dance festivals, learned from various dance professionals, and studied partnering, ballroom, ballet, jazz, modern, and hip-hop. She was asked to teach a hip-hop class during her senior year of high school and has also choreographed and performed in numerous musical theater performances. While living in New York City, she studied dance at Broadway Dance Center for three years under various instructors, including Chio, Luam, Jamie Jackson, and Bev Brown. Ashley worked for The World of Disney Store in New York City as a full-time character performer. She was a Master Faculty member at NADAA Dance Conventions in New England. She taught all styles of dance at Technique Studio of Dance for over ten years and also taught hip-hop to various ages and abilities at Hackworth School of Performing Arts for three years. She was certified to teach Zumba Fitness in 2007 and went on to teach for five years. Since then, she has continued to dance, grow, learn, and choreograph.

Her experience as a co-host and associate producer of WWLP-22News’ NBC weekday morning lifestyle program, “Mass Appeal,” for the past six years has allowed her to discover what fuels her soul and true purpose.

Ashley is a western Massachusetts native. She was born and raised in South Hadley and is a graduate of the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School. Ashley also attended Wagner College, studying Arts Administration, and the University of Massachusetts, where she majored in Communications.

She has found true happiness with her fiancé Wade, and her heart, soul, and purpose are in being a mom to her 12-year-old daughter Summer, and her 11-year-old son Brody.

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