We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mary Langlois. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mary below.

Mary, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

During the pandemic, I was not creating and doing aerials. I, like most others, was sad and scared of the way the world was. As the pandemic lessoned and the world started to open I was excited to get back to teaching at the studio I was previously at. But to my chagrin, they closed their doors not to open for a while if ever. That little gleam of hope was dashed.

I decided it was time to take a risk and open my own studio! I started to do research on business plans and learned a lot about social media and marketing. Trying on all these different hats I would eventually have to master on my own. (Except for my taxes, I have a CPA for that.) I found a great program called SCORE. Which provided free mentors to people opening their own businesses. I had my doubts the entire time. I quit my day job to follow my passion and was terrified I would fail, letting down my parents, family, and friends. But I persevered and fought for what I loved and wanted to share with other people.

One of the hardest parts of opening my own aerial studio was finding a building that was affordable and had the specific height I needed. It took four months and I finally found a weird interesting space that spoke to me. I moved in August, spent a lot of time rigging, and purchased a dance floor and crash mats. Creating my website and Instagram to get students through the door before I was open. Once I started the process it all happened so fast. The Dancing Loon opened in September of 2023 and has had some amazing students that are welcoming and loving. Being able to fly and share my love of aerials with my students is one of the best feelings I have ever felt. I will keep on creating and giving people the freedom to fly and grow as humans and artists!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hello, my name is Mary Langlois (her/she) and I have been dancing since before I could walk. Throughout high school, I studied ballet at Festival Ballet of Providence in Rhode Island. Ballet is such a wonderful foundation for dance, including Aerial dance. It provided grace and discipline. I also had the amazing opportunity to study traditional Irish step dance. It wasn’t until my senior year of High School I took my first Modern class and fell in love. It was at that point the direction of my life became clear.

I received my bachelor’s degree in dance from Rhode Island College, where I studied with Dante Del Guidice, Melody Ruffin Ward, Alexandra Beller, Sean Curran, and many others. After college, I traveled to Ireland, where I got my first taste of aerial dance from Chantal McCormick. The class was amazing. The class was in Aerial sling. If you think of a curtain hanging from the ceiling in a sling where you can sit and swing in. The dancer can also do different skills on the sling as well as create beautiful dance phrases. The class opened my eyes to how much strength it took, as well as a high pain tolerance.

When I returned to the States I continued my Aerial studies. I found a teacher training and performance training program at Frequent Flyers Productions (FFP) in Colorado. My primary focus was Lyra, but I have been seen on fabric, bungee, and stilt walking. I spent four years with FFP teaching multiple classes including many weeks of summer camps. I was also honored to perform at their dance session and at The Aerial Dance Festival. It was here that I fell completely in love with Aerials. With my dance training, I had body awareness and grace in the air. After training and becoming really strong, I was able to combine the grace of dance and strength to create aerial dances that were alive, and freeing, and made me feel as if I grew wings and could actually fly!! After four years of being away from my parents, sister, and her children I decided to move back to the East Coast.

Upon arriving back on the East Coast, I found a wonderful studio called Aircraft Aerials in Somerville MA. I taught there for two years before its untimely closure. This was very difficult for me because I had become very close with the owner and enjoyed the classes I had. I had started to create Aerial dance shows, it was looking like things were picking up. But then the company closed due to losing its space.

So I was looking again for a space to practice my craft and found Overhead Arts in New Bedford MA. It was my home and I grew so much. My students were fun and respectful. I created this amazing Halloween show that would be performed annually. I did workshops and shows. I enjoyed the company of the instructors and owners. Things were great and I felt at home. Then the Pandemic hit. Everything closed and I found myself left without a place to do aerials and express myself as an artist. Like almost everyone at this time, I became very sad and couldn’t figure out how to move out of the sadness. After some time I figured it was time to open my own studio. Let me dream big and share that dream. It was scary and I was afraid to fail. That inner critic was not friendly at that time letting me know that I didn’t have what it took to be a business owner. I had to dig deep down and find the perseverance to learn how to own a business, wearing many different hats. I quit my day job and dove head first into planning and worked with a mentor to make my dream come true. I opened the Dancing Loon in September 2022 and am so very proud of myself and can’t wait to share my love and passion with my students. Creating Aerial artwork for the public to enjoy is the best dream!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

In my experience, I have found word of mouth and social media is the most effective way of growing clientele. Have two to three social media posts in a day, sharing those on different social platforms and having your clients share them as well.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first was opening my aerial studio I planned on having an open house. I printed flyers and plastered social media and really hyped it up. Then my landlord reached out and let me know my space would not be ready at that time. I had to pivot to a different day, change everything on social media, and lost some money in marketing. But in the end the Open house went well and people showed up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thedancingloon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlyDLAS