Beginners - How do we keep them ??? - Page 5

Chef · 18th-January-2005, 06:15 PM

My route into MJ was strange. I was buying something from the Innovations catalogue and I saw this video called "learn to Jive" and I just bought it on a whim. My partner was not interested at in dancing and so it sat on the back burner for a while. My partner and I split up and my father died within the same month and an old friend invited me up to Edinburgh to a dance and since she had done Ceroc she suggested I do the beginners workshop.

I really liked it and it was great to have the feeling of being off of the bottom of the learning curve so fast. The workshop gave me the basics and how to plan a dance and the video formed a referance when I couldn't get the details fixed in my head.

So what has this to do with keeping beginners?

Guys that start dancing are in short supply and they also have a fairly tough time because although girls can be lead by experienced guys beginner guys cannot lead followers around no matter how good the women are. It is tough for the guys to get off of the bottom rung and I am sure a lot of them give up and go away leaving the ladies short of male dancers.

I think it would have worked for me if my local venues had

1) Offered free video loan for a 4 week period (some Ceroc venues do this and some don't. My local teacher had never heard of this) with a refundable deposit.

2) Had beginners workshops embedded within the normal dance evening once every 6 to 8 weeks. Most Ceroc venues take the new beginners off for a lesson on their own during the 30 minute intermediate lesson but it would be great if once in a while there could be a 2 or 3 hour session for beginners happening in tandem to the main event.

I know that sunday beginners workshops are available but they seem to come around once every 3-4 months and are usually quite some distance from the home venue. The people that go to these are the ones that are already hooked. Quite a lot have already slipped through your net by that time.

There seems to be certain times of the year when there is a sudden influx of beginners like after Xmas or after major busking efforts. You have got them through the door so now you need to get them out of the "dazed and confused" section before they give up.

We all try to be friendly and welcoming to beginners but at the venues that I go to there are usually 6-8 every week. It becomes a bit like WW2 bomber crews - you know most of them are not going to be around long enough for it to be worth making friends with them all. Personally I find that the 6 week mark is where I start getting the idea that someone will continue coming and it is worth getting to know them. Not ideal from the point of view of the new beginner but after dancing 5 nights a week for a few years it doesn't take long before you develope "friendliness fatigue" and you just want to get on with some dancing rather than glad handing every new face that comes through the door like a desparate politician.

Happy Dancing

baldrick · 19th-January-2005, 09:31 PM

Handcuff them to an intermediate

bigdjiver · 19th-January-2005, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gadget

The venue has a stage - ....

Thumbs down for raffle or any interuption to normal "dancing time"....

I like the idea to use the stage. I used to enviously eye all the free space while we were cramped on the floor at some venues I used to attend. It is one solution for people who like to show off their talents, perhaps to practise arials.

I also oppose anything that interrupt dancing time. My idea for the raffle was that the DJ might just announce the winning number, and have it displayed somewhere. No interruption, no fuss. Just roll over the prize if it was not claimed.

Paddy1961 · 11th-March-2006, 09:34 PM

I'm glad I kept coming back despite some less than helpful remarks from some of the advanced lady MJ's, my wife was incensed by one womans comments that she went to see the teacher, who was horrified by what was said. As in life there are those who think they are better than they are and forget that everyone has to start at the begining. I found it hard doing something new that would not automaticially be great after one go, having learned to swim not so long ago, this was not a totally new experience and show me any man who wants to look foolish for weeks on end. Having said that, there were enough genuine people to look after me and keep me coming back. I have found my level and am hardly off the floor in freestyle. I have had a go at intermediate and sometimes know that I am not going to get it and have to be content with doing the first two moves but now I have a smile on my face and thats the most important thing. The wife still tells how to lead but that's life.

Seahorse · 11th-March-2006, 09:48 PM

OK... my two pennys worth...

I started dancing as the result of a 'prompt' from a friend in the back of minicab after a night out at Nylon (London). If I found somewhere to dance then she'd join me... we kept it quiet from our mates... we loved it... the following week she was made redundant and moved back to Manchester. Which left me to carry on alone... it was pretty awful...

And one event stands out vividly in my mind which was as a beginner having a taxi dancer (she will rename nameless), after I'd repeatedly got a move wrong... stop me mid dance, shout at me above the music that THIS was my RIGHT hand and THIS was my LEFT... I left and went home humiliated!

I gave up for about a month after that and started going elsewhere (Casbah) where I found more tolerant group of people...

I've never forgotten that taxi dancer... and have always avoided her when I've seen her - she's obviously forgotten - and surprised me on the London Eye dance with the offer of a dance... You have no idea how tempting it was to tell her where she could go.

Of course good manners meant we danced... and much to my satisfaction she told that she'd forgotten what a 'good' dancer I was...

I bit my lip.

Frankie_4711 · 12th-March-2006, 12:22 PM

What kept me coming back? Hmmm, well, I suppose as this is Gordon's thread I'd best say 'the fabulous teacher' first! Coming back down to earth ... (only joking Gordon!

) it was a mixture of everything - a really fun time, being made to feel really welcome and at home by everybody - other dancers, taxis and teachers alike. I do still remember how absolutely terrified I was that first time though, as I'd gone by myself with no idea of what to expect. But people smiled, said hi and all the guys were so understanding when I rolled up going 'I'm sorry - I have NO idea what I'm doing!'.

I now try very hard to be friendly, encouraging and accommodating to beginners and make sure I dance with at least a couple each class in the hope that they will feel as I did and want to keep coming back.

27th-March-2006, 06:47 PM

OK - well here's a view from a couple who stopped dancing (Ceroc) about 12 months ago, but are now thinking about returning.
We are in our late 40's and not 'natural dancers' (she's got no sense of rythmn, I just can't dance!!), but enjoy the music, the atmosphere, the people, and watching the 'experts'.
The main reason we stopped attending our local venue was a feeling of continually being pushed to progress beyond the basics, into intermediate moves.
My S.O. has a dodgy back, and will *not* do drops, and needs 'careful handling' for some moves - some dancrs just don't get that, and the teachers never announced when an intermediate teaching session was going to include drops.
If we had felt that we could have stayed with basic moves - which gave us both a great sense of acheivement, and enjoyment, we would still have been going to our local Ceroc venue, and maybe even doing some intermediate moves!
We've flirted with Salsa, but she can't keep the rythmn, and I can't co-ordinate my feet with everything else - maybe that's why Ceroc was invented!! What we've learned at Salsa, I suspect will stand us in good stead to have another go at Ceroc!

Genie · 29th-March-2006, 04:40 PM

Brownie points to both of you for trying

Ceroc is something to be enjoyed. If your partner needs careful handling when she dances because of a bad back, then (like beginner women asked to dance by an intermediate dancer) it helps if she tells the guy she's dancing with before they start. Men will be more than happy to take it easy - I know a couple of ladies in their advanced years who ceroc, and the boys are always very gentle with them.

As for intermediate classes, there should always be alternative moves to drops, and you can opt out of the class if there's dips and drops, or indeed ANY move that will put you into any physical discomfort. Just have a word with the teacher, and hopefully he/she will find some time to teach you a few moves that will not strain either of you, that you can dance together, to help you enjoy your dancing more

That is, after all, what they are there for.

The only other advice I can offer is that you are open and honest about your wish to avoid complex moves and stick with the basics. If you are in a dance as a follow(lady) and you need the dance to be gentle - or even entirely beginner moves - then you should always say so. Don't let a lead take you through moves you can't do because of discomfort of any kind, esspecially physical. It's not the leads fault, if you don't tell him. So the responsibility is yours. They'll understand, really they will! And if they don't (after you've told them -which I can't see happening with any of our lovely guys up here), refuse to dance with them. Simple as that.

That said, if you give this a go (and let the instructors know) then you should have a good time, and eventually everyone will get to know you, and understand

Good luck, and I hope you get back into it!

Mary · 29th-March-2006, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

OK - well here's a view from a couple who stopped dancing (Ceroc) about 12 months ago, but are now thinking about returning.
We are in our late 40's and not 'natural dancers' (she's got no sense of rythmn, I just can't dance!!), but enjoy the music, the atmosphere, the people, and watching the 'experts'.
The main reason we stopped attending our local venue was a feeling of continually being pushed to progress beyond the basics, into intermediate moves.
My S.O. has a dodgy back, and will *not* do drops, and needs 'careful handling' for some moves - some dancrs just don't get that, and the teachers never announced when an intermediate teaching session was going to include drops.
If we had felt that we could have stayed with basic moves - which gave us both a great sense of acheivement, and enjoyment, we would still have been going to our local Ceroc venue, and maybe even doing some intermediate moves!
We've flirted with Salsa, but she can't keep the rythmn, and I can't co-ordinate my feet with everything else - maybe that's why Ceroc was invented!! What we've learned at Salsa, I suspect will stand us in good stead to have another go at Ceroc!

Excellent post. I'm glad I read this and will keep this in mind. Although I have always believed in the basics being done well, and one tends to forget that not everyone is move-hungry.

M

**robd** · 30th-March-2006, 01:36 PM

Where's the option for ' The (wo)men there really lusted after me'?

Alice · 31st-March-2006, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef

snip

1) Offered free video loan for a 4 week period (some Ceroc venues do this and some don't. My local teacher had never heard of this) with a refundable deposit.

2) Had beginners workshops embedded within the normal dance evening once every 6 to 8 weeks. Most Ceroc venues take the new beginners off for a lesson on their own during the 30 minute intermediate lesson but it would be great if once in a while there could be a 2 or 3 hour session for beginners happening in tandem to the main event.

I know that sunday beginners workshops are available but they seem to come around once every 3-4 months and are usually quite some distance from the home venue. The people that go to these are the ones that are already hooked. Quite a lot have already slipped through your net by that time.

There seems to be certain times of the year when there is a sudden influx of beginners like after Xmas or after major busking efforts. You have got them through the door so now you need to get them out of the "dazed and confused" section before they give up.

Happy Dancing

Some great ideas here

I particularly like the idea of loaning out videos with a refundable deposit. Having some reference material they can take home and watch would be a fantastic help- and not everyone is going to be so hooked the first week they want to shell out for a video to buy. Maybe even charge a small fee for the loan- so it's not completely free (which might be tough for the venue)... like a video store would.

linny lou! · 6th-April-2006, 11:54 AM

hmm let me see just a few things that might work....hot men

chocolate

and good music!

free dance shoes would be a bonus too!

Lee · 7th-April-2006, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon J Pownall

Ok, so as a teacher, one of the things we can do is make sure that we make people feel welcome, not out of place or even out of sorts by coming to learn to dance.

Taxi dancers do their bit and hopefully the regular dancers and intermediates grab a beginner and have a boogie with them.

Sorry if i repeat anything from the last 5 pages, I’ve not got time to read all the posts.

Ceroc need more Men (so based on this).

As a new guy would most likely be introduced to ceroc by a lady friend. I would say that whoever makes the introduction should try to spend as much time with the guy to get him past his first 8 weeks (of hell).

After about 8 weeks I reckon the guy should feel better about himself to be able to make it on his own in freestlye.

Ceroc teaches and taxis can help with this by spend quality time with them in their first few weeks reducing the 'intimidation factor'.

Lee

tsh · 10th-April-2006, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee

Ceroc teaches and taxis can help with this by spend quality time with them in their first few weeks reducing the 'intimidation factor'.

I actually found that the most useful help I got from a few ladies was not from the teachers (who mostly don't mingle at the Ceroc venues I go to) or the taxis, but from the ordinary more experienced ladies. Whilst the taxi concept is very good, in practice there are other dancers who have more experience and may be better able at following in an instructive way, rather than trying to teach during a dance. Different things work for different people though. I think I went to 3 venues in my first week (and got told off at the 3rd venue when I admitted this!)

Sean

**Lynn** · 10th-April-2006, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee

As a new guy would most likely be introduced to ceroc by a lady friend. I would say that whoever makes the introduction should try to spend as much time with the guy to get him past his first 8 weeks (of hell).

After about 8 weeks I reckon the guy should feel better about himself to be able to make it on his own in freestlye.

I introduced a guy to ceroc in Dec - in London. Then came back to NI and left him by himself to go to classes! Dizzy kindly went along on his first week so he had a familiar face.

And I did give encouragement via MSN chats, and he has stuck it out.

Genie · 13th-April-2006, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsh

I actually found that the most useful help I got from a few ladies was not from the teachers (who mostly don't mingle at the Ceroc venues I go to) or the taxis, but from the ordinary more experienced ladies. Whilst the taxi concept is very good, in practice there are other dancers who have more experience and may be better able at following in an instructive way, rather than trying to teach during a dance. Different things work for different people though. I think I went to 3 venues in my first week (and got told off at the 3rd venue when I admitted this!)

Sean

Agreed. Works the same the other way around. I found dancing with the more experienced male dancers who weren't teachers or taxis helped me enjoy the dance more - rather than constantly trying to learn. It was easier to relax and enjoy, because those who aren't trying to teach just get on and do

And that can be the best help of all.

thewacko · 16th-April-2006, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emma

Apart from the teacher and taxi dancers being generally fabulous:

-People asked me to dance even though I didn't have a clue.
-People didn't care that I didn't have a clue.
-I got in half price for three weeks.

Ahh Charlton those were the days

I still occaisionally ask you to dance

snow1962 · 22nd-April-2006, 03:43 PM

Yes,
How do we keep them, I have only been attending for a short time and have noticed that an huge percentage of people do not come back a second time.

I think it might be because of what the nights are, "quite difficult" for a beginner or the uncoordinated (like me) and "social" but not realy "sociable", as per another subject on the forum. Although you may dance woth many people in one night you probably never say more that "would you like to dance" and "thank you".

I have to admit that one of the reasons i did keep coming back was because people were generally nice, several ladies did ask me to dance on my first night and were not put off by my complete lack of any ability (thank you).

So what have i been trying to say, perhaps Ceroc is too many things, dance class, night out, singles club, etc etc, and in being all those things perhaps fails in what most people expect from a "Dance Class". So maybe it needs to have more of a core identity.

But who knows i am sticking with it for now but having difficulties with the intermediate classes may change things.

Clive Long · 23rd-April-2006, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snow1962

.... perhaps Ceroc is too many things, ..... singles club, etc etc,

Oooooh .... you'll make yourself real unpopular round here saying things like that

Andy McGregor must be out of the country as he hasn't jumped on your comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snow1962

But who knows i am sticking with it for now but having difficulties with the intermediate classes may change things.

Well don't rush into it. Occassionally I go to beginners classes and get really simple things pointed out or didn't even realise - like keeping my elbow down when doing a slow comb.

Welcome.

Clive

bigdjiver · 23rd-April-2006, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snow1962

Yes,
How do we keep them, I have only been attending for a short time and have noticed that an huge percentage of people do not come back a second time...

Try and think of all of the shops, pubs, eating places in your home town that you have only been in once. Ceroc has a very good retention record, which is not to say that it could not be better.
It is possible that such a high retention rate is an indicator that it is not getting enough people along to try it in the first place. On the other hand introducing the more agressive marketing policies may actually damage its growth. The people introducing friends approach may be the secret of its success.

View Poll Results: What kept you coming back to Ceroc (MJ) as a beginner ???
The Teacher made me feel welcome and not out of place	12	30.77%
The Taxi Dancers really helped me learn quickly	9	23.08%
The DJ / Music just inspired me to move my body	1	2.56%
The men there really looked after me	3	7.69%
The women there really looked after me	6	15.38%
Where else can you have such a great night for the money ?	3	7.69%
The standard of dancers kept me interested - I just had to go back for more	4	10.26%
Eh...I though this was Line Dancing - Doh................	1	2.56%
Voters: 39. This poll is closed \| Withdraw Vote

18th-January-2005, 06:15 PM	#81 (permalink)
Chef Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mayfield, East Sussex Posts: 928 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 1278	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? My route into MJ was strange. I was buying something from the Innovations catalogue and I saw this video called "learn to Jive" and I just bought it on a whim. My partner was not interested at in dancing and so it sat on the back burner for a while. My partner and I split up and my father died within the same month and an old friend invited me up to Edinburgh to a dance and since she had done Ceroc she suggested I do the beginners workshop. I really liked it and it was great to have the feeling of being off of the bottom of the learning curve so fast. The workshop gave me the basics and how to plan a dance and the video formed a referance when I couldn't get the details fixed in my head. So what has this to do with keeping beginners? Guys that start dancing are in short supply and they also have a fairly tough time because although girls can be lead by experienced guys beginner guys cannot lead followers around no matter how good the women are. It is tough for the guys to get off of the bottom rung and I am sure a lot of them give up and go away leaving the ladies short of male dancers. I think it would have worked for me if my local venues had 1) Offered free video loan for a 4 week period (some Ceroc venues do this and some don't. My local teacher had never heard of this) with a refundable deposit. 2) Had beginners workshops embedded within the normal dance evening once every 6 to 8 weeks. Most Ceroc venues take the new beginners off for a lesson on their own during the 30 minute intermediate lesson but it would be great if once in a while there could be a 2 or 3 hour session for beginners happening in tandem to the main event. I know that sunday beginners workshops are available but they seem to come around once every 3-4 months and are usually quite some distance from the home venue. The people that go to these are the ones that are already hooked. Quite a lot have already slipped through your net by that time. There seems to be certain times of the year when there is a sudden influx of beginners like after Xmas or after major busking efforts. You have got them through the door so now you need to get them out of the "dazed and confused" section before they give up. We all try to be friendly and welcoming to beginners but at the venues that I go to there are usually 6-8 every week. It becomes a bit like WW2 bomber crews - you know most of them are not going to be around long enough for it to be worth making friends with them all. Personally I find that the 6 week mark is where I start getting the idea that someone will continue coming and it is worth getting to know them. Not ideal from the point of view of the new beginner but after dancing 5 nights a week for a few years it doesn't take long before you develope "friendliness fatigue" and you just want to get on with some dancing rather than glad handing every new face that comes through the door like a desparate politician. Happy Dancing

19th-January-2005, 09:31 PM	#82 (permalink)
baldrick Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Kirkintilloch Posts: 815 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 46	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? Handcuff them to an intermediate

11th-March-2006, 09:34 PM	#84 (permalink)
Paddy1961 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Newmarket Posts: 3 Status: No Status Rep Power: 0 Rep.: 10	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? I'm glad I kept coming back despite some less than helpful remarks from some of the advanced lady MJ's, my wife was incensed by one womans comments that she went to see the teacher, who was horrified by what was said. As in life there are those who think they are better than they are and forget that everyone has to start at the begining. I found it hard doing something new that would not automaticially be great after one go, having learned to swim not so long ago, this was not a totally new experience and show me any man who wants to look foolish for weeks on end. Having said that, there were enough genuine people to look after me and keep me coming back. I have found my level and am hardly off the floor in freestyle. I have had a go at intermediate and sometimes know that I am not going to get it and have to be content with doing the first two moves but now I have a smile on my face and thats the most important thing. The wife still tells how to lead but that's life.

11th-March-2006, 09:48 PM	#85 (permalink)
Seahorse Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: SW London Posts: 193 Status: No Status Rep Power: 2 Rep.: 129	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? OK... my two pennys worth... I started dancing as the result of a 'prompt' from a friend in the back of minicab after a night out at Nylon (London). If I found somewhere to dance then she'd join me... we kept it quiet from our mates... we loved it... the following week she was made redundant and moved back to Manchester. Which left me to carry on alone... it was pretty awful... And one event stands out vividly in my mind which was as a beginner having a taxi dancer (she will rename nameless), after I'd repeatedly got a move wrong... stop me mid dance, shout at me above the music that THIS was my RIGHT hand and THIS was my LEFT... I left and went home humiliated! I gave up for about a month after that and started going elsewhere (Casbah) where I found more tolerant group of people... I've never forgotten that taxi dancer... and have always avoided her when I've seen her - she's obviously forgotten - and surprised me on the London Eye dance with the offer of a dance... You have no idea how tempting it was to tell her where she could go. Of course good manners meant we danced... and much to my satisfaction she told that she'd forgotten what a 'good' dancer I was... I bit my lip.

12th-March-2006, 12:22 PM	#86 (permalink)
Frankie_4711 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Maidstone, Kent, England Posts: 389 Status: No Status Rep Power: 2 Rep.: 160	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? What kept me coming back? Hmmm, well, I suppose as this is Gordon's thread I'd best say 'the fabulous teacher' first! Coming back down to earth ... (only joking Gordon! ) it was a mixture of everything - a really fun time, being made to feel really welcome and at home by everybody - other dancers, taxis and teachers alike. I do still remember how absolutely terrified I was that first time though, as I'd gone by myself with no idea of what to expect. But people smiled, said hi and all the guys were so understanding when I rolled up going 'I'm sorry - I have NO idea what I'm doing!'. I now try very hard to be friendly, encouraging and accommodating to beginners and make sure I dance with at least a couple each class in the hope that they will feel as I did and want to keep coming back.

27th-March-2006, 06:47 PM	#87 (permalink)
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a Status: No Status	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? OK - well here's a view from a couple who stopped dancing (Ceroc) about 12 months ago, but are now thinking about returning. We are in our late 40's and not 'natural dancers' (she's got no sense of rythmn, I just can't dance!!), but enjoy the music, the atmosphere, the people, and watching the 'experts'. The main reason we stopped attending our local venue was a feeling of continually being pushed to progress beyond the basics, into intermediate moves. My S.O. has a dodgy back, and will not do drops, and needs 'careful handling' for some moves - some dancrs just don't get that, and the teachers never announced when an intermediate teaching session was going to include drops. If we had felt that we could have stayed with basic moves - which gave us both a great sense of acheivement, and enjoyment, we would still have been going to our local Ceroc venue, and maybe even doing some intermediate moves! We've flirted with Salsa, but she can't keep the rythmn, and I can't co-ordinate my feet with everything else - maybe that's why Ceroc was invented!! What we've learned at Salsa, I suspect will stand us in good stead to have another go at Ceroc!

29th-March-2006, 04:40 PM	#88 (permalink)
Genie Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Aberdeen Posts: 670 Status: No Status Rep Power: 2 Rep.: 188	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? Brownie points to both of you for trying Ceroc is something to be enjoyed. If your partner needs careful handling when she dances because of a bad back, then (like beginner women asked to dance by an intermediate dancer) it helps if she tells the guy she's dancing with before they start. Men will be more than happy to take it easy - I know a couple of ladies in their advanced years who ceroc, and the boys are always very gentle with them. As for intermediate classes, there should always be alternative moves to drops, and you can opt out of the class if there's dips and drops, or indeed ANY move that will put you into any physical discomfort. Just have a word with the teacher, and hopefully he/she will find some time to teach you a few moves that will not strain either of you, that you can dance together, to help you enjoy your dancing more That is, after all, what they are there for. The only other advice I can offer is that you are open and honest about your wish to avoid complex moves and stick with the basics. If you are in a dance as a follow(lady) and you need the dance to be gentle - or even entirely beginner moves - then you should always say so. Don't let a lead take you through moves you can't do because of discomfort of any kind, esspecially physical. It's not the leads fault, if you don't tell him. So the responsibility is yours. They'll understand, really they will! And if they don't (after you've told them -which I can't see happening with any of our lovely guys up here), refuse to dance with them. Simple as that. That said, if you give this a go (and let the instructors know) then you should have a good time, and eventually everyone will get to know you, and understand Good luck, and I hope you get back into it!

30th-March-2006, 01:36 PM	#90 (permalink)
robd Basically lazy Join Date: May 2005 Location: Nr Cambridge Posts: 2,714 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 1804	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? Where's the option for ' The (wo)men there really lusted after me'?

6th-April-2006, 11:54 AM	#92 (permalink)
linny lou! Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 301 Status: No Status Rep Power: 0 Rep.: 93	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? hmm let me see just a few things that might work....hot men chocolate and good music! free dance shoes would be a bonus too!

22nd-April-2006, 03:43 PM	#98 (permalink)
snow1962 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Rutherglen Posts: 1 Status: No Status Rep Power: 0 Rep.: 10	Re: Beginners - How do we keep them ??? Yes, How do we keep them, I have only been attending for a short time and have noticed that an huge percentage of people do not come back a second time. I think it might be because of what the nights are, "quite difficult" for a beginner or the uncoordinated (like me) and "social" but not realy "sociable", as per another subject on the forum. Although you may dance woth many people in one night you probably never say more that "would you like to dance" and "thank you". I have to admit that one of the reasons i did keep coming back was because people were generally nice, several ladies did ask me to dance on my first night and were not put off by my complete lack of any ability (thank you). So what have i been trying to say, perhaps Ceroc is too many things, dance class, night out, singles club, etc etc, and in being all those things perhaps fails in what most people expect from a "Dance Class". So maybe it needs to have more of a core identity. But who knows i am sticking with it for now but having difficulties with the intermediate classes may change things.

Recent Posts / New Posts - Remove advertisements, become a Silver Member!
Ceroc Scotland Forum Advertisement	Sponsored links