Novice
V spomin Johnu Ashfordu. 1944 – 2023.
"There were not many people whose continuous presence would unobtrusively affect the maturation of  young artists, people who could share their precious knowledge and passion for dance, and who could keep their artistic trust for over thirty years as you did. Your creative curiosity and unselfish support gave my dance a certain hard-to-reach nuance, which makes any artist feel rich and acceptable in every way. Your sharp mind, generosity, visionary, articulation, scouting and guiding, your embrace (literary and metaphorically) was revealing. 

As Scorsese gave the main role to Marlon Brando, I could see you as a “godfather” in my dance saga.

Dear John, we will all miss you."

 — Iztok Kovač
John Ashford
Ustanovni direktor evropske platforme za sodobni ples Aerowaves, John Ashford je 17. decembra 2023 po kratki bolezni mirno umrl v Londonu v starosti 79 let. Preživela ga je žena Megumi Shimanuki.

Kot direktor gledališča The Place (1986-2009) in direktor platforme Aerowaves (1996-2022) je spodbujal kariere umetnikov v Združenem kraljestvu, Evropi in drugod. Spodbujal je tudi razvoj kritike kot dela kulture, v kateri raste ples, v poznejših letih pa se je še posebej zanimal za dokumentiranje plesa s pomočjo virtualne resničnosti.

Za svoj vpliv, inovacije in predanost je junija 2022 na podelitvi nacionalnih plesnih nagrad Critics' Circle (Združeno kraljestvo) prejel nagrado za življenjsko delo.