Q: I lost a recreational dancer this month because she wanted to take classes with friends at another studio. How do you cultivate friendships among your dancers?
A: There’s always a risk of this happening once students reach a certain age. It’s key to put some measures in place to create bonds in the classroom and around the studio. It’s possible to do this—even for dancers who only come once a week—by making socializing a part of the lesson plan. Here are some ideas:
Channel pre-class chattiness into a dance dialogue.
Have students learn a new term or explore a dance element, then share it as a pair with the class. Rotate these pairings weekly. (While it may feel like you’re taking time away from on-the-floor instruction, what you gain by fostering relationships may be far more beneficial than it seems.)
Have students learn a new term or explore a dance element, then share it as a pair with the class.
Rotate these pairings weekly. (While it may feel like you’re taking time away from on-the-floor instruction, what you gain by fostering relationships may be far more beneficial than it seems.)
Introduce themed classes.
Try bring-a-friend-to-dance, silly-sock, crazy-hair or twin days throughout the year. These allow for new friendships to be formed through a common experience.
Incorporate the families.
Create studio-wide events that include all of your dancers and families—a parade, in-studio potluck or movie night.
Connect with the parents.
Get the parents of dancers connected to your studio community, too. Have them facilitate a Halloween “trunk-and-treat” celebration in your parking lot, for example, where they decorate the inside of the trunks of cars, introduce themselves and let the dancers and their siblings take a treat.
Regardless of your actions and good intentions, realize that you cannot control everyone’s choices. However, you can do your best to make your facility, classes and teachers all part of an outstanding dance studio that is known for being a friendly and welcoming place.
