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AVA DANCE COMPANY
About Us
"I am so proud of the community we have built that truly feels like a family."
- Leah Mariner, Founder/Director, to CanvasRebel
AVA Dance Company offers adult drop-in dance classes, performance opportunities and pro-prep training workshops to dancers in the Washington DC and Northern Virginia areas.
Founded by former professional dancer, Leah Mariner, her vision is to offer a fun and motivating community for adults to share their passion for dance. AVA Dance Company's mission is to provide adult dancers the opportunity to learn cutting-edge choreography in an encouraging space, find a sense of community, and work towards your dance goals.
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At AVA Dance Company we’re more than just a studio; we’re a community! Our welcoming and supportive environment is perfect for expressing yourself, continuing your training, and most importantly, having fun! Whether you're chasing personal dance goals or just looking to connect with local dancers, we’re here to cheer you on every step of the way.​
How AVA Started
as told by Leah Mariner
Dance has been a huge part of my life for over 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 Wizards 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. It was so hard to start something from scratch, 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 since 2016, we have had thousands of dancers join us in the studio to dance, perform, and share their love of dance!
Meet The Team
LEAH
Founder & Director
Founder and Director, Leah, has been dancing and sharing her passion for dance with others for over 30 years. Leah danced professionally for the Washington Wizards for three seasons, serving as co-captain of the team during her third season. During her time with the Wizards she had the opportunity to dance in Rio de Janiero, Brazil at the NBA 3x Events; Atlanta, Georgia for the annual All P-R-O Dance Convention; as well as New York City for the 2015 NBA All Star Events. Leah has also performed in the Cherry Blossom Parade alongside renowned artists such as Lance Bass of N'Sync, Jay Sean, and Elliot Yamen. Leah was featured on CBS-affiliate WUSA9 discussing her career as a professional dancer and has performed live on FOX5 News. Leah was born and raised in Long Island, NY, where her dance career started. Throughout her 31 years of dance experience, Leah has taught several genres of dance to both children and adults. Her choreography has been featured in Washington DC Cherry Blossom Parade, Washington DC Independence Day Parade, Washington Commanders NFL Games, Washington Wizards NBA Games, as well as concept videos, showcases, and competitions. In addition to dancing, Leah is also a mother of two, and certified elementary and special education teacher. Leah has always loved sharing her passion of dance with her students and is thrilled for the opportunity to help dancers fulfill theirs!
