We were lucky to catch up with Leah Mariner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leah , thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on as the director/founder of AVA Dance Company is the performance showcases we put on for our dance community. Adult dancers of all dance abilities in the DC area were welcome to join us for the opportunity to perform on stage last spring 2022. Several dancers signed up and they spent 8 weeks rehearsing together to prepare 17 dance routines to perform for an audience. Some of these dancers had spent years training in dance and wanted to continue to share their passion as an adult. Some of these dancers were beginners and wanted to challenge themselves with something new. We brought together talented instructors in the area to choreograph original pieces for the show. With any show or performance, there were many moving pieces. Choreographers, dancers, costumes, props, lighting, videographers, photographers, emcees, and of course our audience filled with family, friends, and supportive community members. For so many of our dancers, this was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to perform on stage as an adult. Many dancers shared that they had grown up dancing and figured when they graduated from high school or college that their dance life would end there. For so many dancers they had an opportunity to share their passion with others again and not let their love of dance diminish now that they were an adult. For some of our dancers it was a way to start a new passion and meet new friends in a supportive community. It was so special to me that I was able to give adults a chance to experience this unique opportunity.
Leah , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
AVA Dance Company offers adult dance classes to dancers of all levels and backgrounds in the DC area. My mission when I started AVA Dance Company six years ago was to provide a fun and motivating community for adults to share their passion for dance. We continue to provide adult dancers the opportunity to enhance their dance skills, learn cutting-edge choreography, and stay fit and active in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere.
Dance has been a huge part of my life for almost 30 years. Growing up in the dance studio, competing on dance teams, and dancing professionally for the NBA has been such an integral part of my life. After I finished dancing professionally for the Washington Wizard’s dance team, I tried to find a place to dance in the DMV to continue to share my passion in a supportive environment and wasn’t able to find a studio that I could do that. I decided that I wanted to create one myself. I began teaching once a week to dancers in the community. For months I hardly had anyone show up to my dance classes, but I knew that what I could provide was special and I believed that I could make a difference in our DC dance community. I never gave up on my dream and gradually our dance community began to grow. Eventually I started having more classes, more instructors, and more studios. Now six years later, we have had hundreds of dancers join us in the studio to dance, perform, and share their love of dance. We now offer dance classes in the styles of jazz, hip hop, contemporary, heels, technique, tap, and street jazz.
I think something that makes us different than other dance studios in the area is that we value the sense of community and always provide a supportive, non-judgement zone for dancers to train and have fun together. Dancers of all backgrounds, abilities, and levels are welcome to join us. I am so proud of the community we have built that truly feels like a family.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I started AVA Dance Company six years ago, almost all of our marketing and community outreach was done through social media. I did not have any experience in marketing, social media, or running a business (my background was in dance!) so this was all totally new to me. I think what made me stand out and helped me be successful with building a following was being authentic and speaking directly to the audience I wanted to reach. When you think of your ideal follower, or in my case, dancer, I wanted to speak directly to them, when posting and sharing on social media. I tried to share content that represented our brand, but also allowed our potential dancers see themselves in our studio. Additionally, I spent a lot of time direct messaging dancers who were interested in coming to our classes or had come to one of our classes. I wanted to get to know them, hear what they had to say about our classes, and let them know that our dance company was a special thing to be a part of. Making a personal connection on social media is a great way to not only create a following, but also gain loyal customers/dancers/clients.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
As many other small businesses, we had to pivot our business drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic. We went from having several dance classes in the studio per week to virtual classes within 2 weeks. It was something we had never done before, but we wanted to make sure that we continued to provide an outlet for our dancers to continue to dance during such a difficult time. It was important for us to still have high caliber dance classes delivered online and also keep our sense of community when so many of us felt so isolated. We continued our virtual classes for over a year and eventually added outdoor dance classes as well for our community. During this time, I became pregnant with my first child. Before that, I had run most of AVA Dance Company on my own. I knew that once I added the huge responsibility of motherhood to my plate, I wasn’t going to be able to do it all on my own. I added two team members to my administrative team to help me with social media, digital marketing, booking, and day to day operations. Although adding people to my team was nerve-wracking at first, it was the best decision for the dance company. I was then able to spend more time on overseeing the big picture of the dance company and also have other people to bounce ideas off of and share the struggles and successes with. Any change within a small business can be stressful, but continuing to believe in our brand and what we offer helped me continue on.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.avadanceco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avadanceco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avadancecompany/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAmGPcDja1IEmiP2GoIr63w
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ava-dance-company-arlington
- Other: Book our dance classes: https://www.avadanceco.com/book-online
Image Credits
Photographers: Erin Hill, Rodney Miller