London Inc. Winter 2021 - 38

Ashley Aarts
Owner and Director, Dance London | 37
As owner and director of Dance London, Ashley Aarts invests herself not only in the business and art
dance, but also in the wellbeing of her students. Equal parts mentor, guidance counsellor, psychologist
and leader of the troops, she relishes the opportunity to enrich lives and better our community.

20 UNDER 40 * CLASS OF 2020

What would you say is your biggest business
achievement? Our biggest business achievement was when
we enrolled 450 dancers for our 2019-2020 dance season.
When I purchased Dance London in 2015, we had 165 dancers
enrolled and my goal was to one day have 400 dancing with us.
Having reached this goal meant that we were ready to expand
the business to a larger location so we could keep on growing
and impact even more young dancers' lives.
How have you weathered the pandemic, and what has
it taught you? When we were shut down completely with no
income coming into the business and no rent relief,, we had
to pivot quickly. In a matter of a week -over March
break -we recorded virtual class
ass content for over
80 classes and posted them on an app. When
we realized that the shutdown would be longer
than a couple of weeks, we decided
ded to end our
season and not charge our remaining
aining fees. Even
though we weren't dancing together
ether in person,
our community supported us, and they were
ready to register when we were back up and
running.
Covid-19 has also taught me how
important Dance London is to so
many people. The love and support
port
we received from our community
ty
have been unbelievable. I will
never forget the messages I
received from students missing
the studio, or from Dance
London parents checking in
to see how we were doing
during the shutdown. Our
community truly cares
about Dance London and
I believe that is because of
the impact the studio has
on our students' lives.

38 | londonincmagazine.ca | WINTER 2021

I will never forget the messages I received
from students missing the studio, or from
Dance London parents checking in to see
how we were doing during the shutdown.
Our community truly cares about Dance
London and I believe that is because of the
impact the studio has on our students' lives

What advice would you offer to your younger
self? If I could give advice
adv to a young Ashley, I
would tell her that it's okay to ask for help and to
make time for family, friends and yourself.
If you weren't runni
running a dance studio, what
would you be doing
doing? I love interior design. If
I wasn't a studio own
owner, this is the ﬁeld I would
have pursued
pursued.

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London Inc. Winter 2021

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