I'm in the same boat. Orlando's dance is about 20 dancers each week. We've been at it since last summer and the numbers have not changed. About half the group is newbies each time. A few come back, but often after 2-4 dances they don't come anymore. One referred to contra as "cute", and I suppose the easy dances are. We have just a handful of regulars. So, I've been giving this a lot of thought. I don't have magic answers, or I wouldn't still have the problem. Some observations:
I can't call anything too complex with that number of newbies. If someone has come half a dozen times, they're likely outgrowing the dance and getting bored. They probably have all my dances memorized, too. It may be the experienced dancers I need to incentivize, not the newbies, if I want to retain people after a few weeks! Raising the level toward the end of the evening is hard, as then we only have about 12 dancers, half newbies. Finances are hard, too. I'd hire another caller if I could afford it. I've done it a few times, but that's not enough. CDSS grants are far below the $500/week of a basic dance with hall, music, caller, and sound. People today have many more options of things to do than in the past. They often like to try out different things with the same friend group. They may feel that coming every third time is a deep commitment to the dance. This makes it hard for the group as a whole to improve enough to retain many dancers after a few times, as it takes each person several months rather than several weeks to get good. The lower level drives experienced people away. People do social activities to connect with others. They either need to go with friends who already like it (so this is the only option for hanging out with those friends that night) or they need to make friends there. It's good to have a welcoming committee. It's good if people verbally welcome the new dancers and ask them to dance. It's far better if people strike up genuine friendships with them, such that they want to return to hang out and dance with those people. But, it is difficult to arrange something genuine, especially across generations. Things like going out for ice cream afterwards help, though. People who have come a few times are less likely to make a point of coming the very next time than either regulars or newbies who have seen an ad and decided they want to try it. Even though we have a calendar of future dances and we make a lot of announcements on social media and I personally send an individual Facebook chat to every dancer in my friend list, I still get plenty of, oh I have something that night, gee if only I'd known, etc. I've made business cards with QR codes for the dance and hand these out both as ads for people to give to friends and to remind them to put the next dance on their calendar. It goes without saying that if people (especially younger women) are experiencing unwanted behavior or are being treated in an unpleasant way, they won't come back. Reactively managing these problems isn't enough. You often won't hear about them unless you seek them out by making a safe space and asking people individually whether they're always treated well. Setting behavioral expectations and letting people know of the recourse paths starts in the workshop and continues with signs and mentions during the dance. A culture of consent and courtesy is key. If nobody is returning, you might have a problem of this sort. To make the dance attractive to a given group, put that group on your board in sufficient numbers to change the program and outreach so that it attracts more of them. We were all (mostly) dragged to a dance by a friend. Find the people doing this (the social centers of each friend group) and incentivize them. People bond over food. Have snacks at the break. Make it free for students, young people, and low-income or jobless people if you're hoping to attract them. Ask people who are well off to make up the difference, in private, one-on-one conversations. I've heard a lot of anecdotal information about second-dance-free cards and the like. I am curious if anyone has real data about their effectiveness. But, the bottom line is, if it were really the best experience of their lives, they'd come back. I'm doing what I can to get better at calling and to have better music, to raise the funds to have different callers and live bands every time, and to advertise, advertise, advertise, so the numbers come up, we can afford a quality program, and the experience improves. --jh-- On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 4:37 PM Alexandra Deis-Lauby via Organizers < organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Mary, > > Is the Buffalo dance gender free? The website tells callers to use gents > and ladies. If the dance is in fact gender free, then the website needs > updating. If you are advertising the dance as gender free but use gents > and ladies, that would certainly not encourage me to return if I were a new > dancer. > > > > On Mar 13, 2023, at 3:54 PM, Mary Collins via Organizers < > organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > Watching this as we have the same issue. We are (I believe) the 2nd > largest city in NYS and have the most pitiful turnout. > > I think you have some good ideas here. > > One comment: we often or even always speak about our dance not only gender > free, no partner necessary to bring, but also as no lessons needed, each > dance being taught and "walked through". Then we advertise "the lesson" b4 > the dance. If words matter (and I think we agree they do) the this is a > huge contradiction. > > I say to people these sets of words & phrasing: easy, walking to music, > Only 8 steps, no need to bring partner but a friend is fun, dances are > taught, practiced (stole from country line dance & swing) and then they are > prompted once the music starts. We offer basic move instruction rather than > lesson. > > I don't really know if these changes help, hinder or have no effect. I > only know that not having a friend anchor for the first few dances would > have resulted in my not coming back. The lesson too. But that's just my > perception. > > We give out "get in free" cards and encourage ppl to share theirs with a > friend. I also encourage people who say "I told my friends...", to next > dance offer to pick them up or meet b4 and come together. > > We also encourage experienced dancers to partner with new dancers. > > I am anxious to hear other's ideas. > > Mary "from Buffalo", not. > > > On Mon, Mar 13, 2023, 12:49 PM Sandy Seiler via Organizers < > organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > >> Newbies are not returning my thoughts... >> Why? not feeling welcome?, feeling intimidated/too hard? Coming late to >> lesson and being lost/confused during dance? Lack of feeling of >> mastery/learning? Need follow up lesson since we only dance 1x/month? One >> month is a long time to wait for another lesson. Not enough younger >> dancers like themselves? >> Ideas: >> 1. Use beginner friendly buttons >> 2. Ask experienced dancers to dance with beginners for first 2 dances at >> least. Board members lead by example. >> 3. Encourage experienced dancers to come for the beginner lesson to >> welcome/socialize with new dancers. >> 4. Have caller or one of us give out free passes (pass for next dance) at >> the lesson so we don't have to remember to do it at the table. We gave out >> 15 free passes to new dancers in Feb and did not get any to return in >> March. (March dance was on 2nd sat instead of our normal 3rd sat and it's >> spring break. Feb attendance 61, March 38 (paid dancers, not including 3 >> listeners). Also there was a local magazine article about LBDA in February >> and we had our most experienced and popular contra dance band (Kaw Creek) >> playing. >> 5. Our Lesson is at 7:00, Dance 7:30. Should we use start time 7:00 in >> advertising bc experienced dancers will figure it out and adjust to coming >> at 7:30 more easily than new people knowing they need to come at 7:00 for >> the lesson. New people attending and being on time for 7:00 lesson is >> important for a smooth dance so do we need to advertise that way? Want >> experienced dancers to be there to meet and socialize with them so they can >> be better integrated into the community and not feel so awkward. I have >> suggested this to our board before, but was told that would be manipulative >> toward experienced dancers who would be upset that they came too early and >> wasted their time. That feels like a very unwelcoming attitude, and I >> would like to encourage all our dancers to consider that 7:00 is our start >> time because beginners are important and we need to be there to greet them >> and socialize. >> 6. Schedule a 1 hour lesson or series of lessons led by experienced >> callers Lisa and or Jill and a couple new callers... before the dance? On >> a different day? Through Parks and Rec this summer? >> 7. New dancers are far outnumbering experienced dancers. Need to do >> advanced dance to pull back in some dancers who drifted away after the >> pandemic. Contact individually by phone/email? >> >> And then getting younger people to attend is a whole other but strongly >> related topic we need to address more effectively. We are not getting >> enough young people at dances. It appears to me that when a young person >> comes they often decide to not return because there aren't enough people in >> their age group. >> >> Please tell me if you like/encourage these ideas I have come up with so >> far and add others. >> Especially I want to know how to get new people to come on time for the >> lesson. >> Is it ok to advertise dance for 7:00 even though first 30 minutes is >> lesson? It's frustrating for our callers and then they don't get a full >> lesson which is not good for anyone. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net >> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >> > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net > To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net > To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >
_______________________________________________ Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net
