I’ve worked with Mary Scanlon for several years on film and television projects and can confidently say that she is a talented woman with many outstanding qualities. Her amiable and enthusiastic personality puts her in the limelight in a crowd of her contemporaries. She has good acting ability, an encouraging and positive energy, and is always up beat. However, her most outstanding attribute becomes apparent when she dances and choreographs other dancers. Her coordination of the dancers for so many TV shows was invaluable and impressive as she instructed both cast and extra cast members in the various styles of Latino rhythms and movements. I could always count on her to direct her troops of dancers at a level that would lend authenticity and excitement to the scenes of the many shows that we worked on. She worked hand and hand with directors and assistant directors and understands the focus of a scene with regard to action and camera movement. She is an invaluable asset to any film production where dance is an integral part of the story and her energy is boundless. As a choreographer, dancer and actor for the pass 17 years in the film and television industry, I highly recommend Mary as a valuable asset to any production.

I have worked with Mary on various projects including film, television, and commercials. Her professionalism and attention to detail is impeccable. She is a wonderful communicator who possesses an exceptional ability to bring out the best in those she works with. This passionate, creative, driven, and talented individual is a pleasure to work with and would be an asset to anyone who has the opportunity to work with her.

Dancing Thru the Decades!! Our biggest fundraiser of the year – we hired Mary Scanlon and the ‘Flip Me Dip Me Dancers’ to do a 30-minute performance. The chair of the event wanted a show, “Dancing Thru the Decades”. So we sat with Mary and she helped us put together the following: 1930’S – “Putting on the Ritz”, 1940’S – “In the Mood”, 1950’S – “Rock Around The Clock”, 1960’S – “Let’s Twist Again”, 1970’S – “Jungle Boogie”, and, 1980’S – “Thriller’. The show consisted of 15 dancers/performers. The dancing routines were dynamic – totally professional. You could easily tell that the dancers worked hard and practiced their routines until they reached perfection. The costumes, make-up, and hair styles were right on for each decade. The grand finale – Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ – was awesome. There were 11 dancers in all – everyone was in zombie costume and the make-up was done by a professional make-up artist. Not one guest left their chair during the whole performance. All eyes were on the dancers. Guests were filming the routines with their cell phones. We received many compliments on the entertainment! Mary was very easy to work and communicate with – she delivered everything she promised – and more. I would highly recommend Mary and her dancers for any event. Mary kept in touch through the whole planning process – returned calls promptly, even though she was working on other jobs – some even out of town. I would like to add that the entire group of dancers was polite and a total delight to be around. They enjoyed each other and what they were doing – and it showed. We were lucky to find such a young, professional group of dancers on the internet – don’t hesitate to call Mary – she’ll deliver!
5 Stars!

I utilized Mary and ten of her dancers for my New Year’s Eve party. These dancers performed as flapper dancers, hip hop dancers, and some were also cigarette girls. They were spectacular and I received good reviews about them. Mary is highly professional, fun, and organized. She is able to quickly adapt to last minute changes and I love that she and her dancers were able to freestyle to any music played. I will definitely be using her again for events and popping in for my very own dance lessons. 5 Stars!

Mary is wonderful! We recently booked Mary and her partner Devon for our Holiday Party and they were a great hit! Mary was very responsive and got back to us right away. She and her partner performed two holiday dances in costume and taught a line dance to our party guests. Everyone loved them and wanted to have their pictures taken with them. I would definitely recommend Mary as she was very professional and friendly… 5 Stars!

OUTFREAKINGSTANDING!!! For weeks prior to the even I had been courting Mary while trying to figure out how to meet my clients needs for the entertainment for her 50th anniversary. To my great surprise less than two weeks before the event, Mary was available & she was able to bring her partner for a couple’s dance we really needed in the program. My clients are HUGE Fiddler on the Roof fans & it was absolutely a MUST that two songs remain in the program especially one I couldn’t get the band & hostess to perform together. After multiple messages going over the show I asked Mary based on her reviews here if she can dance to another song on the set list the band was playing because I felt the songs were too slow & I would HATE for the audience to miss out on her dynamic performance style. She replied back that she has a musical theatre background & that she might be able to convince her partner, who was traveling that week, to do it. Sure enough he agreed. They were MAGNIFICENT between their duet & their memorizing waltz on our teeny tiny dance floor. My clients gave them a standing ovation & CRIED! They didn’t even cry during their vow renewal ceremony at the beginning of the night. As if spending 50 years with the one you love wasn’t magical enough… Mary was able to make the evening more magical. I can NOT thank her & her partner enough! Oh & they were absolutely gracious & STUNNING! Book them NOW!

5 Stars!

Beautiful performance, very professional!

Beautiful performance, very professional! Couldn’t say enough good things about Mary and her company, they were SO professional, had gorgeous costumes and were engaging! They took the party to the next level and not only added festive ambiance but gave a beautiful performance.
5 Stars!

Mom’s 90th birthday! Mary and Brian provided EXCELLENT entertainment and guests participation on my mom’s birthday party. I was lucky to find Mary to make the party alive, and I highly recommend her to any event. Thank you so much!
5 Stars!

Great job giving salsa lesson at mother’s 70th bday party
Mary did a great job giving a salsa lesson to 50+ people at my mom’s 70th birthday party. She was a real pro, and everyone had fun while learning a little salsa.
5 Stars!

Mary is Awesome! We hired Mary and her partner Forrest for a 1920’s themed party and they were great. They did an amazing quick step for our guest, and taught us all how to do the Charleston and then stayed and continued to dance with our guest and have fun with the birthday girl! I am so glad I hired her. She was amazing and very friendly! If you are looking for someone to teach you dance or perform at your party and keep everyone engaged, I highly recommend her! She was also very easy to communicate with and accommodating.
5 Stars!

My wife and I are taking weekly private ballroom dance lessons from Mary. She normally teaches a 60 minute lesson, but we are taking 90 minute lessons, because we’re usually just warming up at the one-hour mark. She teaches at a few different locations, but we convene at the Hollywood Dance Center on Highland in Hollywood, and usually have the whole floor to ourselves. Whenever we finish a lesson, we schedule the date and time for our next one. We have had four lessons so far and we’re loving it. My wife takes to it more naturally, it can be a struggle for me, but both Mary and my wife are very supportive, patient, and encouraging. We really look forward to each lesson, and have already come to consider Mary a friend, as well as our instructor. She’s personable and she really knows her stuff. I’m too easily embarrassed to look foolish in front of others, so I absolutely needed private lessons. Her price is very reasonable for private lessons, and she has discounted it a bit as we bought several lessons in advance. My wife and I took private dance lessons prior to our wedding ten years ago, and enjoyed it so much, that we continued for a couple of years after our wedding. Eventually, our schedules and that of our instructor got busy, so they fell by the wayside. But we always talked about starting up again. My 10th anniversary present to my wife this year was reinstating our dance lessons, which couldn’t have made her happier. (Guys-listen up!) We found Mary on Angie’s List, and thought we’d check her out with a first lesson. We liked her so much that we then purchased a block of five lessons in advance. As our schedule varies from week to week, Mary has remained very flexible with regard to scheduling changes, so long as we inform her in advance. After four lessons, we’re still working on fox-trot variations, but are looking forward to rhumba, salsa, waltz, cha-cha, swing, etc. (Think I’ll pass on hip-hip.) Mary can do it all.
What did you like most about this contractor? How well she knows her stuff, and her patience as an instructor. Also, very personable.
What words of advice would you give other members considering this contractor? For private or group lessons, you can’t go wrong.

10 one hour private instruction and choreography for our wedding’s first dance. It was absolutely fantastic. Mary is highly personable, and fantastic with husbands with 2 left feet! We chose a difficult song, which made Mary’s job harder to choreograph with a husband with minimal dance abilities. She did an amazing job, the dance was fantastic, and we’re still getting compliments from our guests 6 months later. We’re planning on hiring her again to teach us how to dance just for fun.-
How does the value of the work compare to the price? I got more than my money’s worth
What did you like most about this contractor? She’s flexible, personable, and talented.

Fun dance night! Mary arrived on time. Very friendly and put us at ease immediately. Dance instruction was superb. She did not intimidate. Very patient. All in all, a great night dancing!
5 Stars!

Mary is simply an awesome teacher. I never believed she could help achieve so much in a short amount of time. I am sincere when I say you will learn at least 2 times as much with her in the same amount of time with anyone else – and believe me I was about to give up hope until I met her. She really does want you to get better and really pushes the pace and your abilities. If you want an instructor that cares how good your technique is and wants you to look good Mary is it. She notices all the little details that other less motivated (and probably burnt out) instructors don’t bother correcting. She must have told me over 10 times to correct little things (hand placement, foot pointing, timing, etc) and she never got tired or let me be sloppy. I totally appreciate that because I get the feeling other instructors never cared half as much. Kudos to her! And on top of that she has an awesome personality and is a lot of fun! Try her you will like her!

Mary is a excellent instructor who can manage all levels as a group while zeroing in on those who need special attention. Classes are fast paced, informative and fun.
– Gourmet Y.

I learnt some salsa dancing in Mumbai. Then I came to USC – LA. The first year, we did not have great instructors in the dance club, so when Mary and Mike came to teach us in my second year, I hoped they would be awesome! I was not let down! I was looking to learn and practice salsa in addition to only Wednesdays on campus, and came to know about Mary’s classes. I went. loved the way she teaches, various pattens, the workout between beginner and intermediate lessons. Unfortunately I was lazy to not have a 100% saturday attendance … which I should have. the classes I did attend taught me a lot! To get an idea as to how awesome Mary’s class is, I have tried to attend her class over long weekends, driving/flying down from San Jose! Mary also helped me purchase dance shoes, which now, help me dance a lot better than formal leather shoes.

If you are interested in taking salsa classes, this is the place to go. The people are friendly. The instructor, Mary Scanlon, teaches really cool moves and she’s hot too! You will learn a lot in these fun classes. You don’t need a partner to come, because everyone rotates in the beginning and intermediate classes. And if you are looking to get fit definitely check out the salsa workout class. It’s intense!

This class and the people are great. If you want to learn how to dance this is the class you should take. Mary is awesome. She has an amazing teaching style and she is a great dancer.

I LOVE THIS CLASS! Mary is great – her classes are fun, inventive and entertaining. Her instruction is precise and easy to follow. She gives personal attention to each student which you don’t find with most instructors. I love to dance and am completely addicted to her Salsa classes now. If you have never taken a dance class TRY IT! Mary is a gem to learn from and makes the class enjoyable not overwhelming and intimidating. If you have taken dance classes then SIGN UP. The routines will change and you will not be going over the same steps every time. Whatever your level of dance – Mary is the instructor for you! And her students are top notch too! Taking her class is something I look forward to every time! This is one of the best things I’ve done for myself in years. So get your dance shoes on and come hit the floor with Mary!

I came to USA, LA to be precise, in Jan 2008. I was new here and I wanted to try out new things. I was not a dancer and I didn’t have any experience in dancing. For a long time, I believed that I didn’t have any talent for it and there’s no way I could ever become good at it. In fact, I would regard myself as someone with two left feet. I took some Salsa classes at USC and Mary used to teach USC students (she still does). Through those classes, I got interested in Salsa dancing and I wanted to learn more. So, I started taking Mary’s Saturday classes in Hollywood Dance Center. One thing I really liked about these classes was that Mary had a knack of making these classes fun and easy. There weren’t any moments when I would be intimidated by other students and I got all the personal attention that I needed. On top of that, I made a lot of friends and I am now very close to some of them. The kind of bonding Mary has with her students is something which I still haven’t seen at any other dance classes I have been to. It’s been almost two years since I started taking these classes and I would call myself a confident salsa dancer. Earlier this semester at USC, I cleared the auditions for a dance team on campus and I will be performing in front of 200 people this Sunday Nov 15th. There’s no way I could have achieved so much if it weren’t for Mary and her expert guidance. She’s a gem and a really amazing dance instructor. Take my word for it, I have taken classes from lots of dance teachers and I can still rate Mary’s classes over them all. Mary’s beginning classes are something I would recommend to even the seasoned dancers. I have been taking these classes even though I consider myself way beyond the beginner level (I am vain on some occasions 🙂 ). Till date, there has been no beginning class where I didn’t learn something new about the basic steps. Her workout classes are a blast and they are the most popular of her classes. Her intermediate classes have never ceased to surprise me as she comes up with one amazing combination after another. In short, these classes are truly worth it.

Awesome! Mary is great as usual. She goes into depth on how to do the little stuff right from posture to how to use your arms/hands.

Mary Scanlon is a phenomenal and fun dance instructor. She treats newcomers and longtimers alike with kindness and patience.