Ballet dancers from across the globe unite in Charleston, SC for a groundbreaking mission: to diversify an art form historically fraught with rigid standards. At the helm is Ashley Benefield, a 25-year-old former ballerina, who has hand-selected each dancer to fulfill her wave making vision - The American National Ballet. In just five months she had formed a fully-fledged dance company boasting a $2.5 million dollar budget, promising perks like health insurance, American visas, and discounted...

In the summer of 2016, 24 year old ballerina Ashley Byers and 54 year old veteran-turned-entrepreneur Doug Benefield struck up a conversation at a party for a presidential contender. They say it was love at first sight – despite the thirty year age gap. And within just thirteen days of meeting – shocking everyone they knew – the two were married. A family wasn’t the only thing they set out to build; together, they dream up a wave-making ballet company: the American National Ballet. With a...