“Keep your eyes on the prize.”
It’s a motto Mallory Dunlop adopted at a young age and one that has guided her journey to great success as a dancer, choreographer and educator with her own studio, the Hive Dance Company, in Leaside.
As a child, Dunlop was quite shy but built confidence through gymnastics and, especially, dance. She began competitive dancing at the age of 10 and quickly, she notes, the “dance studio became (her) second home.” By early high school Dunlop knew she wanted to pursue dance professionally and run her own dance studio.
The “how” of keeping her eyes on that prize became clearer in her Grade 10 Careers class at Leaside High School. Tasked with choosing a hypothetical business to run, Dunlop conceptualized her own dance studio. With the guidance of her teacher, she crafted a business plan and started mapping out the steps needed to make her dream a reality.
After graduating from George Brown College’s Commercial Dance Studies program, she hit the ground running (dancing?). Only six weeks after graduation, she secured a six-week dance contract in Dubai.
Maintaining her focus on her “prize,” Dunlop notes that she “started hustling and meeting as many people as (I) could.”
She was soon hired as a backup dancer with bands including Hedley, Karl Wolf, Kardinal Offishall and Maestro. She appeared in music videos, films and TV shows including Rookie Blue, A Nutcracker Christmas and The Marilyn Denis Show. She was a member of the Toronto Argonauts cheerleading crew and was hired to perform at multiple public and private events.
Gaining certifications in Acrobatic Arts, TADA Hand Balancing, and Alixa Flexibility, Dunlop began teaching dance and acrobatics in various studios in 2012 and developed even more confidence as an instructor. Six years ago, her long-held dream came true with the opening of the Hive Dance Company (hivedance.ca). But there’s been more to the dream than the actual physical building. Dunlop has always envisioned an environment where kids can gain the confidence she had as a child in dance class.
She strives to create a community where kids not only learn technique but also form strong friendships and develop the values of integrity, responsibility, and perseverance.
The Hive offers a wide range of both recreational and competitive dance and acrobatic classes for kids aged 3 to 14+ as well as active summer camps.
While Dunlop has achieved her prize of owning a dance studio, she is not taking her foot off the pedal. She vows to “always be learning and growing as a teacher, and to keep pushing students to be as good as they can be.”
Visit The Hive Dance Company here: https://www.hivedance.ca/
