Brooklyn Nets dancer is uplifting Black and brown creatives with new project
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) -- You might recognize Ashley Capri from her ten-season run as a dancer for the Brooklyn Nets, where she’s not only been lighting up the court but also rocking a dual role as costume designer since 2019.
Despite an already stellar resume, Ashley’s on a mission to create spaces where Black and brown creatives can truly connect, collaborate and thrive.
In honor of Women’s History Month, PIX11 sat down with the unstoppable Ashley Capri — a model, actress, designer, dancer, and entrepreneur — to chat about her dynamic career and her latest passion project, The Creatives Nexus.
What began as an initiative for Black History Month has grown into something much bigger. Over her 15 years in the entertainment industry, Ashley noticed that Black and brown creatives were often missing from the picture. Rather than wait for change, she decided to make it happen herself.
“I just wanted to create a space where I could bring together Black and brown creatives that I’ve worked with over my career, so they can collaborate, network, and work on passion projects together,” Capri said.
The Creatives Nexus event brought together talent from all corners — dancers, models, designers and more — showing just how powerful community and collaboration can be. Even with all her success, Capri is honest about the challenges she’s faced. Self-funding her projects while juggling multiple gigs isn’t easy and fighting against tricky social media algorithms for exposure isn't either.
But through it all, her commitment to uplifting others remains rock solid. She even makes sure her production sets are filled with Black, brown and female creatives, because she believes the spaces we work in should mirror the rich diversity of our community.
For anyone feeling pulled in a hundred directions, Ashley’s advice is clear: start with the one thing you’re truly passionate about, and let it lead you.
“Dance opened the doors to everything for me,” she said. “If you have one thing you’re passionate about, put your energy into it, but also stay open to where it can take you.”