How To Keep Dancers From Quitting
As dance teachers, we’ve all had that moment; a dreaded moment, that no matter how many years of teaching experience you have, leaves us feeling empty, sad, and disappointed. I’m talking about the moment a student comes to you and says they want to quit. It’s heartbreaking for so many different reasons, and while it may get easier not to take personally, it never gets easier to understand, especially if we didn’t see it coming.
I’ve been having a lot of interesting conversations on Instagram with dance educators and studio owners, and I’m hearing a lot of you echo these disheartening feelings. The soundtrack to our lives right now is on a constant pandemic remix, and our students are still on the roller coaster of both loving and needing dance as an outlet during these challenging times, and yet being unfocused and unmotivated in their classes.
So, what’s a dance teacher to do when students come to you and tell you, “I just don’t like dance anymore, I want to quit”? How can we keep dancers from quitting? Especially as the year comes to a close and dance teachers around the globe worry that they’ll lose dancers over the holidays and open the studio doors in the new year to low enrollment.
I have a different solution, and different perspective from most. I’m not going to tell you to beef up your Facebook ads, or bring in a Master Choreographer to bring new students in and light your current dancers up. Nope, my insight is unconventional, but rooted in psychology, emotional awareness, and empathy.
Often, when dancers say they “don’t like dance anymore”, what they really mean is that they don’t like the dance environment anymore. When they say they “want to quit”, usually what they mean is that they want to quit the culture, pressure, or expectations they’re feeling in dance.
I bet if you turn inward, and reflect on your own experiences, either with dance, or any activity or commitment in your life, and think about when you became disengaged with that thing, you’ll find that what made you want to leave was that you could no longer count on that thing to be fun, enjoyable, or make your feel safe, confident, or like you were learning and growing. I’ve worked with a lot of dancers, and dance teachers over the years, to heal past negative dance practices, habits, and beliefs, and create new, more healthy and positive ones, and the straw that broke the camel’s back for 99% of these folx was that they just couldn’t deal with their environments anymore. Their love of dance never left them, and they never really wanted to quit; the love most of us have for dance lives deep, deep within our bones, and not much could ever keep us from leaving dance.
So, if the issue for students isn’t really that they’ve lost interest, or don’t enjoy dance, then the good news is that we don’t actually have to lose students. If we fix the environments, and really tune into helping our dancers feel better in the classroom, and on stage, then we can not only retain more students, but we can help them create a sustainable relationship with dance that will keep them happy and healthy for years to come.
How can we change our dance environments? What can we do create dance spaces that are safe, kind, and accepting, so that dancers keep dancing, keep growing, and thrive in our classes and studios?
Meet them where they’re at, and make time and space for connecting and reflecting with dancers.
Make time for play and games, fostering open communication.
Encourage respectful self talk, build self-esteem, autonomous learning, and resilience.
You can lay those foundations now, and for the year ahead with my New Year Goal Kits.
These Kits are designed to help dancers :
practice mindfulness
identify what they want to improve
rely on internal motivation and reflection, rather than seeking external validation
affirm all the progress they’ve already made this year
practice body kindness - being respectful of their mind and body
With over 20 pages of games, activities and workbooks, this kit is the perfect way to wrap up dance classes for the year and create a studio culture, and environment that dancers will want to come back to in 2022.
Kits are only available for a few more weeks, so click the button below to get your copy now!