She works late. A few weeks ago, on a Saturday night, Ashley Hayward was “in the pocket” onstage at Jumbo’s Clown Room — that elusive, divine state of being that all performers chase, where artist and audience merge. From the stage, she bit into a banana before spitting it into a woman’s mouth, sealing it with a kiss. The crowd erupted into cheers. Later, she reappeared in a nun’s habit, peeling it off to reveal black vinyl lingerie. The crowd gawks at her — devout eyes wide, lips parted as if witnessing a miracle.
“I was in the pocket the entire night,” Hayward recalls. “I got onstage the first time, got them and I had them the whole night. Those are the special nights because you’re creating something together.”
By day, Hayward leads a different kind of performance, teaching Pilates at WundaBar’s mirrored studio in Los Feliz. She leads the class with the same conviction she embodies as a dancer. In a black headset fit for a pop star, she paces around the studio in a black unitard, leading the class through repetitions and poses…