Ashley Hayward is the Jumbo’s Clown Room icon who also teaches Pilates at WundaBar. By night, she thrives on stagecraft that blurs the line between performance and spectacle; by day, she channels the same energy into the studio. On a recent Saturday, she was “in the pocket” at Jumbo’s Clown Room, a nirvana where dancer and audience co-create a moment. She bit into a banana, spat it into a nearby diner’s mouth, and sealed the stunt with a kiss as the crowd roared. Later, she re-emerged in a nun’s habit, peeling it away to reveal black vinyl lingerie, leaving onlookers astonished and delighted. Hayward remembers, “I was in the pocket the whole night. The first moment I hit the stage, I had them, and I kept them there. Those are the nights when we shape something together.”
During daylight hours, Hayward leads a different kind of performance: she teaches Pilates at WundaBar’s mirrored Los Feliz studio. Wearing a black headset and moving in a sleek black unitard, she guides students through the routine with the same intensity she brings to dancing. “Ashley, you look like Madonna!” a student once proclaimed at the end of class. The sessions have earned a devoted following among Pilates enthusiasts who admire the dancer’s nighttime persona. Regular student Hannah Benson notes, “Her Pilates flow has a dancing-like fluidity. She understands natural body movement in a way that makes me feel more at ease in my own body.”
A native of Oregon, Hayward relocated to Los Angeles chasing music and dance dreams. She found commercial dance limiting and began exploring burlesque, eventually dancing at Jumbo’s Clown Room after friends recommended the venue. “It changed everything for me,” she recalls. “It was the first time I could dance full-time.” Since 2018, she has been a beloved presence at Jumbo’s Clown Room, grateful for a space that grants her freedom.
In recent years, Hayward has become a staple of LA’s nightlife. Since 2017, she has fronted Night Scene, a live, “rock ’n’ roll sleaze” show anchored by the band Night Boys and featuring burlesque performers. The chaotic live act pays homage to DIY punk aesthetics, a vibe she felt was missing in the city. “Night Scene is something that doesn’t exist, at least in L.A.,” she says. “There was a gap I wanted to fill.” The show is gearing up for its biggest night yet on January 21 at Zebulon in Silver Lake, a larger venue she believes the troupe deserves.
Hayward’s love for Pilates goes back to high school and resurfaced after the pandemic. After discovering WundaBar, she was drawn to the studio’s flow and approach. “I thought I’d learned everything as a student, but I wanted to go deeper,” she explains. With the owner’s encouragement, she earned her certification and began teaching. For her, Pilates naturally complements dance and even pole work, which can be physically demanding. “Pole dancing at Jumbo’s is tough; it demands serious strength, so adding Pilates just makes sense,” she says.
The impact of Pilates has touched many aspects of her life. She reports greater self-confidence as a performer and says the practice deepened her stage presence, even helping her feel more comfortable addressing the microphone. Her teaching style blends energy with music, a reflection of her nightlife experience. “I try to keep things lively and loud,” she notes, linking this approach to both Jumbo’s performances and her studio work.
Students praise the combination of music and movement in her classes. Brooke Noonan, among them, highlights Hayward’s ability to provide corrections gracefully and to DJ with a background that includes rave culture and house music. Hayward herself emphasizes a health-forward mindset: “Exercise benefits your brain, and that’s our best anti-aging tool.” She encourages students to shift from self-punishment to a positive, self-care perspective.
For Hayward, the two worlds—late-night performance and daytime fitness—coexist rather than conflict. “My message is that you can exist in both spaces,” she says. “You can have late nights and still be healthy, avoiding an unhealthy lifestyle by choices that honor wellness.” Looking ahead, she envisions expanding her fitness career with private training, her own space, and eventually a proprietary workout method that blends nightlife and fitness for a broad, inclusive audience.
Until then, you’ll find Hayward teaching at WundaBar on Mondays and Fridays, and headlining Jumbo’s Clown Room on weekend evenings. She acknowledges that, on the surface, she may look like a standard Pilates instructor, but she brings a distinct voice and performance-driven style to everything she does.
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