Encouraging beginner dancers to continue dancing

Dancing isn’t easy for everyone to pick up. So many beginner dancers come to class to try it out, but give up straight away. To survive, classes need a funnel of new beginners coming through, and beginners need to give something new a chance. And that applies for any new hobby not just dance. So how can we encourage novice dancers to stick around and not give up after one class.

I’d say Ceroc’s methods work well in keeping beginners returning. The hardest part is getting them through the door in the first place. Maybe there’s learnings that other social dance lessons can take away from them in retaining beginner dancers.

For beginner dancers

I’ve so many posts on here sharing why dance is amazing. But it can be hard to keep trying if you find the first class really hard…and many most people do. But here’s why not to give up.

• New friendships
• Dancing brings so much fun
• It will click into place, it just takes some people longer than others
• If it’s the venue or teacher rather than the dance itself, try another venue
• Socialise while dancings
• You’ll learn new skills
• Bring a friend.  It’s like going to the gym, if you’re going with a friend, you’ll find it harder to put off going.

If you’re going to Ceroc or modern jive classes, there are usually taxi dancers. They’re for beginner dancers, to make you feel welcome and get you up dancing. I believe they’re invaluable for encouraging new dancers to come back. Other dance classes should have similar especially where they’re big venues which can be daunting for people to walk in alone. Especially if it’s partner dancing and you need to get up on the dance floor finding a partner. It makes a venue much more friendly and sociable. (Salsa venues, take note!)

For the dance teacher or organiser 

A line dancing teacher online asked how she could keep beginners coming back, rather than having a never ending rotation of people who only come once. Checking out the actual teaching is important in making sure the needs of those attending are met, but it’s more likely to be a mix of different things that aren’t working.

And not forgetting, some people just aren’t cut out for dance however much they try. They might have been dragged along under duress by friends or partners, they might not be physically able to learn. But if you can get beginners coming through the doors, then you want them to have the best dance experience. And for them to return (and ideally tell everyone else about the wonderful classes).

Many of these are applicable for beginner dancers too. If you understand what teachers can and/or are trying to do, it might help understand what you yourself need, and can search out the right classes.

Recognising different ability of beginners

Not all beginners are the same. 

I’ve been to a 6 week ballroom & latin taster class in the past. It was for beginners to try out the dances, but half the people turning up were from the standard classes and were using it to practice. Not really acceptable when it’s for beginners to try out lessons. Unless they’re going to mix in and help the beginners.

Every dance organisation has different levels.  Modern jive/Ceroc tends to have a beginners class, then intermediate (with an extra beginners practice session alongside), then a freestyle hour or so to complete the night. All are encouraged to come for the night. My line dancing teacher does beginners, improver, intermediate/advanced on my class night. But will also vary the levels at different venues to allow for absolute beginners, beginners/improvers dependent on the abilities at each place.

But even within a beginners class you’ll end up with different levels.  In our line dancing beginners class we’ve got people who’ve never danced before; people like me with lots of dance experience but new to that style of dance; people who’ve been line dancing for a year but aren’t really ready to move up, as well as more advanced dancers who come to warm up for their later class, or to help be the knowledgable dancers to copy for the different walls.

Breaking down the counts

Dancing can be easy if it’s explained broken down in counts, and then gradually built up to make the full dance. Then dance to the music, before repeating it each week until it doesn’t need much more than a quick reminder before dancing.

A dance style where you’re learning a dance over several weeks is easier for beginners, as long as they’re starting in week 1 of the dance.  With ceroc you’re learning a few new moves in each class, and it’s different each week. So you’re learning the muscle memory of the moves and how to lead/follow. It’s a lot more about confidence and building up that bank of moves, than lessons learning a specific full dance. That’s more about repetition and practice, but also ensuring people don’t get bored learning the same dance over and over again.

Beginners need clear concise steps explanations for each count, then not too fast music at first. That’s definitely one way to scare them off.

Many new dancers struggle with transferring their weight. Sometimes it just needs them to practice walking or marching to understand they have to fully put their weight across.

Not overwhelming them with tips

Tips are great. With line dancing you don’t really need that many as a beginner, although I would suggest for fast music it’s helpful to say take smaller steps. But too many tips can get overwhelming.

Welcome and encouragement

For new beginners, being welcomed is so important. They need to be comfortable walking in somewhere new for a hobby they’re new to. And they want to feel like they fit in.

Having friendly people on the door, or people to talk to when they’re milling around waiting for the class to start all helps.

Having a bit of a laugh during the lesson is good. After all, they’re not learning to be pros, they’re there to have fun as well as learn.

Reminding beginners it may take a couple of weeks to remember steps and dances is important. No-one’s going to get it first time round, and remember dances from week to week.

I’ve got experience as a taxi dancer in the past and I know how hard it is walking into a dance class as a total beginner. So when I walked into the line dancing class for the first time, I just chatted to some people around me while waiting for the class. I introduced myself to people next to me when inbetween dances or at the break. It’s good to get to know people and make them feel welcome. 

Drop ins vs Courses

Having beginners turn up any week is great. It means people don’t have to wait for the start of a course (I’ve tried for the last year to make the first of the 12 weeks run for line dancing).  If you’re teaching full dances, then it makes sense to run a course, but ours does still allow people to join when they want to.  It just makes it harder for them not learning from the first week, as the dances already learnt are run through faster in subsequent weeks, while new dances are taught slowly.

Advanced dancer helpers

This is when it’s helpful to have helpers or taxi dancers. It means they can run a follow up beginner practice session after the first main lesson to run over moves, let beginners ask questions, and practice. This does mean a second room or space is required, plus ability to play music there and either pay or have people willing to help, but will help beginners progress faster and get their confidence up.

The one thing for beginner dancers to take away, is that everyone who’s an advanced dancer was once a beginner. And that you need to practice and repeat what you’ve learnt to improve. 

What would you say to beginner dancers or organisers to get beginners to keep dancing?