Thread: No one showed up for class...

It is not just the economy.

We have students preregister and pay, only to come to one or two classes the entire session. Or even no classes in the session.

Is everyone addicted to the internet? Stuck on the couch eating bonbons? Workaholics who can't leave the office to do something for themselves once per week? General apathy about life in general?

I had 4 students come to my beginner workshop, which is more than I was expecting I guess. That covers the studio fee and the exhoribitant amount I spent on the facebook ad for the workshop (which yielded me about 70 clicks but did not bring a single student or even a phone/email inquiry), so at least I'm not in the hole.

Yeah, I sympathise with you...and its comforting to hear that many of us have had that experience.

It's a big part of why I am quitting teaching for a good long while..but I tink if you wanted to give it a go, Lauren's suggestions are the best.

Originally Posted by anala

Yeah! Excellent student great, empty wallet - not so great.

Yep, but one must smell the roses when and where they bloom. ;-)

Amen!

PS you make me feel better...g.:

Originally Posted by ssipes

It is not just the economy.

We have students preregister and pay, only to come to one or two classes the entire session. Or even no classes in the session.

Is everyone addicted to the internet? Stuck on the couch eating bonbons? Workaholics who can't leave the office to do something for themselves once per week? General apathy about life in general?

I had 4 students come to my beginner workshop, which is more than I was expecting I guess. That covers the studio fee and the exhoribitant amount I spent on the facebook ad for the workshop (which yielded me about 70 clicks but did not bring a single student or even a phone/email inquiry), so at least I'm not in the hole.

Gosh I think you're right about addicted to Internet, stuck on couch etc. It's really hard to get people motivated these days.

I'm lucky in that (so far) I work for somebody who pays me but my private classes - yikes. Studio rent, advertising etc, I have wound up in the hole some months.

I wish I knew how to get people out of their cocoons -

Do you put on shows? Haflas etc? I'm thinking about doing what I did back in the dark ages and getting a band together. If nothing else it was a trip...l;,

And, since people are complaining about no live music - well that would kind of kill two birds so to speak (vegetarian here - sorry birds! I didn't mean it that way!) and also that's the kind of experience you just can't get from the internet.

Of course I went in the hole on my band too...l;,..l;,..l;,

Thanks everyone... it really helps to know that I'm not alone.

I liked all of your advertising and promo tips. I just wish I had the money to throw into it.

I'm going to offer a free promo class this Thursday. I'm spreading the word via mouth and told all the other instructors at the studio and said they can bring friends... maybe that'll be enough to get some people in there. If not, I'm canceling the class and considering a move to another part of the country that has a bdance community, is hiring hs physics teachers, and has a summer that's longer than 1.5 months.

P.S. I am so sick of fing conservative mormon aholes tearing down belly dance flyers because they disapprove. (apologies to any bhuz sisters who are lds but also decent non-judgmental people.)

Yeah... I've done plenty of live public performances to pique interest. That's where I've handed out cards.

Oooh, move to MA and hang out with me! Not that we have a huge community in dance or physics, but we're working on it!

You are most certainly not alone!

Times are tough all over. I've got enough for some nights, not enough on other nights, and having a hard time getting new folks in. Stuff that used to work, ain't workin' any more!

I'm going to change things up. I don't know exactly what yet... but I've got to try something other than a "walk-in's welcome" format. There are some great ideas here to start fresh.

Trying to keep my spirits up. I'm going to turn attention to other aspects of my dancing while regrouping. (Is that a word?) ..l;,

i feel really discouraged at times. Every time I start teaching, it is because I'm approached by a dance studio, so these places already have some kind of interest. I always teach at only one place at a time.

Right now I'm teaching at a pilates studio. It is very small, there is really only room for 5 students comfortably, although we had classes for 10-11 and had lot of fun.
I taught there last year, and now this year and both times it went exactly like this:
I teach 1 month, we have about 10 students or so. Everyone seems to love my class, they keep coming, having fun, also verbalizing how much they love it.
Then next month the attendance drops to about half. The first month I have students who come to 1-2 classes, but at least 6-7 students are the same. The second month I'm down to 3-4 students that are the same and another 1-2 who come sporadically.

I get really bummed out. Now I started teaching in July, 11 students, in August we had 4-5, and lately just 2-3. The studio needs at least 5-6 students for them to not loose money and make some after they pay me (they pay a nice rate for me :), so we agreed that we give it another month.

But I feel like I'm a bad teacher because students are dropping. On the other hand, the students who dropped out were telling me how much they loved it and they wanted to keep coming. I know people have other priorities, and things come up, but it still leaves me feeling inadequate.

So, OP i definitely feel your pain, and as you've seen you're not alone.

Originally Posted by Mintaka

Oooh, move to MA and hang out with me! Not that we have a huge community in dance or physics, but we're working on it!

Haha! Would love to hang out w/ you! We could costume together!

Wow... sounds really bad all across the board.

The studio I'm "teaching" at is really nice... huge room, enough space for maybe 40 people easy, mirrors all around, good sprung dance floor, and a nice sound system. That's part of the reason why I felt bad... wasting such nice studio space.

Originally Posted by Lesedi

Wow... sounds really bad all across the board.

The studio I'm "teaching" at is really nice... huge room, enough space for maybe 40 people easy, mirrors all around, good sprung dance floor, and a nice sound system. That's part of the reason why I felt bad... wasting such nice studio space.

Yeah, I felt that way... but I got some good practice in. (There's one of those roses Anala mentioned!)

The biggest thing for me, is that I'm having to re-think the way I'm going to teach. After years of things working the same ole way, it looks like change is needed. Flyers and the local paper are not bringing in the folks. Walk-in classes are not doing it.

BTW... Thanks to eveyone for the ideas! This is a great thread.

The wonderful, beautiful studio that we are renting from right now has an Open House later this month. I've asked if we can help host and give a freebie class. The owner said "Yes!" Whoo-hoo! I hope to pre-register folks at the Open House. A girl can dream, can't she? ..g.:

One of my 'hobbies' is coordinating the annual workshop put on by our local MED organization. In 2007, we had seven teachers bring students to our event. Membership included three other teachers.

Last year, 2009, ONE teacher brought students to the event. Three other teachers brought themselves (but no students) to the event. The six other teachers were out of business.

Several YMCAs and community centers offered belly dance. As far as I can tell, one currently does.

Any one of you ladies who feels like she is personally responsible for low attendance at dance class is welcome to claim responsibility but I'm not sure you are the problem :)

Originally Posted by Elibelinde

Do you put on shows? Haflas etc? I'm thinking about doing what I did back in the dark ages and getting a band together. If nothing else it was a trip...l;,

And, since people are complaining about no live music - well that would kind of kill two birds so to speak (vegetarian here - sorry birds! I didn't mean it that way!) and also that's the kind of experience you just can't get from the internet.

Of course I went in the hole on my band too...l;,..l;,..l;,

I am totally starting a band- I tell myself it makes me more versatile- I can loose money 2 different ways now!

Just glad really nice people are willing to come play with me ..g.:

It's preregistration at our school as well - I would never start a drop-in class.

This weekend I just taught an introduction workshop with 7 people and 4 of them had even paid the money in advance. That's the way we like it!

People have to preregister for all kinds of classes, so why should we not do the same?

MEISSOUN

I also only do pre-registration, with a minimum of 5 people to run the class. My Level 2 class holds pretty steady at around 15 students a session, but that's mostly because my student troupe members are required to take the class.

My Beginning class is totally hit or miss, and I've pretty much given up trying to figure out why. My June - July session was nearly capacity with 19 people. The following August - September session only had 4 enrollments, and I couldn't even run the class! It's always a roller-coaster, despite consistently getting excellent verbal and written feedback from students every session.

My cardio BD class, Raqsercise, never really got off the ground. I thought it would be a big hit, but it ran with the minimum number most times, and a couple of sessions didn't meet the minimum so it was cancelled. I'm no longer teaching it after the session ends this week.

Gig-wise, I had the busiest summer ever (booked every weekend from June 1st to August 15th), only to now find myself without a single paid gig on my calendar. I haven't even had a gig inquiry in weeks.

My husband's job is in a precarious state, so we can no longer afford to ride out the ups and downs of my BD business. I'm cutting back to teaching one night a week and looking for a day job again.

Ditto on pre-registration. Get those couch potatoes to commit--especially beginners!
But also--evaluate the time and day on which you are trying to teach. Some days are better than others. Does your class compete with another class of a very popular teacher? Also--time of year--2 weeks into September is better than labor day week.
Performing at local public events will likely get people interested. If there is a guild or club in your area, connect with that group.
I held a studio open house last night (I do this about 3 times a year) with my student troupes and pro troupe performing, and as usual I had a flurry of class inquiries today.
good luck!

I've had this happen to me last night. I was teaching as a sub at a community center.

I also found a studio to teach at last year and no one ever showed up to classes so I ended my relationship with that studio. I definitely think it's the economy.

This is been a regular thing for me too but I'm not giving up just yet and neither should you. We just have to find different ways to teach.

I'm all for offering free or cheap intro classes to reel people in.

I started teaching out of my home. that way i do not pay rent. or have certian # sign up before class and have then pay you via paypal then you have money to rent the studio. or work for a studio so you atleast don't have to rent it and lose money.

Originally Posted by PrincessNadirah

I started teaching out of my home. that way i do not pay rent. or have certian # sign up before class and have then pay you via paypal then you have money to rent the studio. or work for a studio so you atleast don't have to rent it and lose money.

My ideal would be to have a home studio for the reasons you described. But I'd need to own a home for that. I'm an apartment dweller who wishes she had the space for a home studio.

When I purchase a home in the future, I definitely home shop with the purpose of having a home studio in mind.

Originally Posted by saheli

My ideal would be to have a home studio for the reasons you described. But I'd need to own a home for that. I'm an apartment dweller who wishes she had the space for a home studio.

When I purchase a home in the future, I definitely home shop with the purpose of having a home studio in mind.

Amen to that.

Course I could get rid of teh bed...l;,

Originally Posted by Elibelinde

Amen to that.

Course I could get rid of teh bed...l;,

Who needs a bed to sleep?! ..l;,

Wow... I was all down about how I was going to reel in new folks. Three new people have joined my drop in class. That makes six total! And they all want to pre-register for the up coming session.

I decided that I'd end the "Summer" drop-in session and the next session will be 6 weeks for $Y. Pre-registration will start very soon and folks are already interested. Wish me luck!

Hi Lesedi - I can only speak as an art teacher, but if it makes you feel any better, I absolutely know that this is all part of the economic downturn. I've been teaching painting in an upscale art school since it's doors opened six years ago. I started with a class of two, but gradually became one of the school's most popular teachers with consistently high rates of enrollment. This time last year my long-standing regular painting class was overflowing - we had to use two rooms and turned people away. This semester I have one third that number. It's got to be an especially difficult time for any teacher of the arts to launch a new series of classes in a new teaching location. Take heart - under the best of circumstances it takes time to build a following, and these are tough times. It will get better.

Originally Posted by bnwspots

Who needs a bed to sleep?! ..l;,

Wow... I was all down about how I was going to reel in new folks. Three new people have joined my drop in class. That makes six total! And they all want to pre-register for the up coming session.

I decided that I'd end the "Summer" drop-in session and the next session will be 6 weeks for . Pre-registration will start very soon and folks are already interested. Wish me luck!

Hooray!!! So good luck...g.:

Now - as to the bed.

You wanna deal with 3 ticked off cats who LOVE the bed - plus of course my my old man?..l;,..l;,..l;,

Hmmmmm. Might be worth it to have some studio space. I have my easel and drawing board in there too.

People wonder why I make small paintings...l;,

Originally Posted by Elibelinde

Hooray!!! So good luck...g.:

Now - as to the bed.

You wanna deal with 3 ticked off cats who LOVE the bed - plus of course my my old man?..l;,..l;,..l;,

Hmmmmm. Might be worth it to have some studio space. I have my easel and drawing board in there too.

People wonder why I make small paintings...l;,

This sounds familiar . . . ..l;,

Originally Posted by isildriel

Hi Lesedi - I can only speak as an art teacher, but if it makes you feel any better, I absolutely know that this is all part of the economic downturn. I've been teaching painting in an upscale art school since it's doors opened six years ago. I started with a class of two, but gradually became one of the school's most popular teachers with consistently high rates of enrollment. This time last year my long-standing regular painting class was overflowing - we had to use two rooms and turned people away. This semester I have one third that number. It's got to be an especially difficult time for any teacher of the arts to launch a new series of classes in a new teaching location. Take heart - under the best of circumstances it takes time to build a following, and these are tough times. It will get better.

My dad, old ad man, says, just deal with the idea that art helps lift depression (double meaning).

He's right I think - economic troubles literally get people down and not just economically.

So I am thinking, aw heck with the Classical Art angle - what's wrong with Shake The Blues Away? Shimmy Out Of Your Problems (not to mention your hip scarf..l;,)

Or something?

Never say die!..cr.:

Originally Posted by isildriel

This sounds familiar . . . ..l;,

Yeah. Diego should have had such problems...l;,

I was telling my student who actually got a real job yesterday (faint) that Diego Rivera used to stand on his scaffolding with a gun and crossed bandoliers full of ammo.

Now I know why.

HE WAS DEFENDING HIS WALL. So he wouldn't have to paint in a corner with two hair brushes...l;,..l;,..l;,

Originally Posted by Elibelinde

My dad, old ad man,

Never say die!..cr.:

My dad is also an old ad man! Designed lettering for uh booze labels, for one! I grew up with all sorts of ...interesting...advice..l;,
Sorry, back to topic!

Yeah sorry for the hijack. Mine was an indomitable advertising kahuna too! A theme emerges perhaps? I agree - shimmy those blues away!!!!! Got me through losing our house. The worse things got the more I practiced and here I am . . .

So, let it be hereby resolved:

We're gonna shake those blues away (and if necessary go out on the street and pass the hat!)..l;,

Of course there is also palm reading...g.: