Just wanting to know what your status is with your adult programs. We are in our 5th year of operation and its seems like its hit and miss. We did the pay month to month had a great crowd and than it fizzles. Than we did pay as you come and that did great for a while and than fizzeled. This summer we did the classes June-August and it was awesome, converting back to paying on a monthly basis, 30 day notice if you w/draw. Anyhow, we had a little over our minimum enrollment and now its fizzling again? What are your policies and marketing, any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. This if for mostly our adult program with jazz/hip hop, ballet and tap. Other fitness programs are doing well. thank you in advance!

Adults are (usually) different then kids in their motivation to dance. I've had little adults who wanted to invest in dance for a long time. Most of them like it for a shorter time, and then move on to something else.

Kids might have a dream of becoming really good in dance, maybe even go pro. Adults know that is a passed station.

Also, when someone of an adult class quits, her friend will stop to, someone else in class uses the opportunity to say goodbye (she already wanted to go for a while, but hesitated to say that; but when someone else does...), another one leaves because she thinks everybody is leaving.
And those who stay are disappointed to see how much smaller the group has become, hate it when new people enter and leave because they miss the old atmosphere.

That's my experience with adult classes. So my advice to you would be to offer adult classes like YOU want to, because you will probably not find a 'general' way that makes all adults happy.

uhh...what adult dance program??? Every style, every studio, every teacher I've seen (including myself) can barely get adults in the door. If by a miracle they show up in a large group then every single week at least one or more will stop coming until you have none. I had 7 adults start with me this fall, I almost fell over the first night of class. Now I'm down to 3 who try to come every week, but for October we've canceled class twice since there was only one adult there. I really don't put anything into marketing my adult programs. I will mention it if I'm talking dance to an adult, but I don't push it like my kid classes. Adults suck!

And I do my classes as a punch card, pay as you go type thing.

I had 13 adults on a waiting list for jazz.
I called them all to ask if they wanted to start next week.
They all said 'O YES, GREAT'.
They all agreed with the day and time I arranged for their class.

No one showed up.

Next day one of them called me to ask: "How many people came yesterday? I might be interested if there are enough people."
My answer: "So many! I'm full now, sorry, I can't offer you a place anymore."

Adults are very insecure, just like their kids. But while they push their kids to continue (because they paid for it), no one pushes them to meet their promisses.

cmdc wrote:

uhh...what adult dance program???

Adults suck!

Well said.

"They begin and fizzle" is typical of adult classes. I have started them in the past and the same thing happens. They are busy, they have children, families, lives. Dance is usually last on their list of priorities.

It's rare to have and keep a market of adults.

When finances are an issue for them, dance is the first thing to be cut.

Even exercise classes are tricky. Unless you have scads of adults to buffer the absenteeism, it's hard to run the class with any momentum.

Thank you all for your replies! I honestly thought I was the only SO with this issue. I had my beginner jazz/hip hop tonight and I usually have 3, one called in sick. So that left me to 2 students...ugh...but when I opened the door to start class I had five ready to take class...the previous students brought friends, cause I told them the class would be closed after this month if I didn't hit 5 students...lol..soo frustrating..now its the game of, how long will it last????? especially with the holidays coming hahaha thanks again everyone

Ours is great! We have 24 coming on a regular basis plus others pay per week! We don't charge a lot for the adult class, $30.00 per month or $10.00 per week. They do 1/2 hour tap and 1/2 hour jazz. Ages 19 - 72! We will get more after the holidays and then they are in our recital. Every year we get more and more! Why is so successful, I think because there is no stress, lots of dancing and laughing!

I agree with the consensus that adult programs start strong and fizzle as other committments take precedence. This does not however help you establish a program. My experience is that the ones that often stay are the mothers of other dancers. Some also want to take the class but are put off about participating in recital, particularly if they are a parent who is already busy helping a child that day. My suggestion is to offer a no pressure class-recital participation optional- and talk it up around your studio!

Our adult classes are really thriving. At the beginning of the year, we encourage the regulars to bring friends to try it out etc...The other thing is to keep the class simple enough that the students don't get discouraged. We have found that if the class is too full or too hard, people quit. The other thing is that our adult classes are committed to the recital. They pay for their costume and after November there is no refund. People tend to commit more when there is money on the line.

My adult classes are small, but the people coming are as committed as can be expected. The studio I work for that takes adults makes them pay for the full season, just like the children and it keeps most of the motivated. Even so I know that come the end of the year I'll be down to my really keen ones, even with the keep fit lessons real life gets in the way.

The studios I have worked for offer adult classes by the session (8 classes). They still have the problems mentioned above, but at least the studio has collected the money for the 8 classes. You might have better staying power if you offer them performance opportunities...on the other hand, you might scare them all off. It depends on so many factors with adults. Dance Moms and ex-dancers work out the best. lidwina is correct, adults are insecure. Then there is the age thing...20 year olds don't want to dance with 40 or 50 year olds and vice versa.

One of the studios I worked at had adult yoga classes as well that were more successful than the dance classes. The yoga teacher did sessional classes (20 classes at $15.00 each) and had a loyal following...she turned off the lights and taught in the dark...maybe that is the key to success with adults in dance, turn down the lights so they don't think everyone is watching them.

loverofballet wrote:

...she turned off the lights and taught in the dark...maybe that is the key to success with adults in dance, turn down the lights so they don't think everyone is watching them.

I'm going to try that! HA! We'll turn off all the lights for Adult Tap. Hey...wait...maybe they'll be worried that I can still hear them too.

I know...we'll tap in the dark with socks! hehe.

I really do think that is key to certain classes. No adult wants to make an ass out of themselves in case they mess up or can't physically do a certain move, nor do they want anyone to see their fat. If I had the opportunity to turn down the lights a bit, I would.

I think saying that Adults suck is really a horrible thing to say! My SO runs a very successful adult program and I am one of the teachers. I agree that some will fizzle as the year goes on, but we have a loyal solid base of adults that come back year after year. Treating them with respect is key number one and a great attitude going in, knowing that they won't be perfect, but you can have a good time with them is key number two.

For us the adults pay the same way that the kids do. A commitment is made in November to recital, with a costume deposit if doing recital. If not, then they just continue to take class all year, filling in for absent people when necessary.

You must also have different expectations of adults. They have husbands, kids, jobs, houses, lives outside of the dance studio. Commitments will conflict. You must know that they will miss from time to time in order to handle outside stuff. That's ok - and you can't make them feel bad for it.

Also, your material must be geared to their level, but don't dumb it down either. As I said on another post, if they wanted another aerobics class, they wouldn't have come to your dance studio.

I just wanted you all to know that Adult Classes can be successful. We have approximately 20 in the Tap program, 15 in Jazz, around 10 in Hip Hop (because they never realize how difficult Hip Hop really is), and another 20 in the Ballet program. That's another 65 students....what would that do for your studios monthly income???

Please don't treat adults with such an attitude. You never know what joy and satisfaction you will get from teaching them.

My adult classes go in cycles, and I've never found a good way to predict those cycles. I've had adult classes that soared with large numbers of committed students, and classes that sank under rampant absenteeism, way too high expectations ("When will we look like Riverdance?" when it's their third lesson), or the fact that dance has to be practiced in order to be learned. Some people just don't have the time or the energy for regular attendance and practice, and without both, it's tough to learn dance.

Adult Irish dancers are largely unwelcome in my city, and as I'm not fond of that attitude, I'm determined to offer classes for adults regardless of numbers. Every year I offer 3 levels for adults; enthusiastic returning students are in Levels II and III, and it's Level I that is uncertain. I make a point of continuing the class even if it winds up very small, sometimes overlapping part of it with another class to get them some exposure to other students and different people to dance with. So far this has worked; even if I only have a single student interested in continuing, that student usually stays the year and moves on to Level II the next year. I just needed to find a way to work with really small numbers.

We have a very successful adults program and an adult competition team for those who wish to compete. most dance competitions around here have a section called "mature and motivated" which is for older adult dancers.

I have found that the success of the adults classes will depend on how they are treated by the teachers. many studio's treat it as an extra, not serious fitness type class. We treat our adult classes the same as any other class, it is equally important and anything that is offered to the kids is offered to the adults including dance exams, recital and competitions.

RileyA wrote:

I have found that the success of the adults classes will depend on how they are treated by the teachers.

Exactly what I was trying to say above, but much more succinct!

I agree with most of the above comments, and we have encouraged adults for decades, with some small success. However, we have to include them with our teen dance classes because we're a very small school, and their numbers can't support their own classes. Nor do we have extra space, or a staff of teachers. We treat them the same as everyone else, but allow for more frequent abscences. Our recital and Nutcracker is optional for all of our students too.

I did want to mention that if you are the dominant, long-established school in a small town, you'll probably have more success with adults - by way of good "word-of-mouth." My area is saturated with too many dance schools, some of which are then forced to charge high hidden fees = "bad-word-of-mouth." Dance has become a dirty word, and too many moms are very quick to move their children on to lower cost pursuits, such as sports. Once hooked into a sport that requires lots of driving, the moms can't be bothered with dance for themselves. It seems to me that soccer moms think that by sitting on the sidelines, they are getting exercise.

Well, we can't even get to the point of how we treat them. How do you guys initially get it building? We always have parents and adults say they're interested and want to do it. But when it comes down to it, they don't have time, their kids are embarrassed, etc. etc. How do you get it off the ground?

Aside from all the comments on treatment which is a definite consideration, I think all of us here treat our adults like real dancers but make it a happy medium where they are challenged but not pushed too hard to scare them.

I had adults call me up with interest right when I opened my school. So I opened one adult class. I had about 6 to start with in the summer. Then many had to drop as the fall began.

I'd say start marketing for after new year's classes. That's when gyms are hit heaviest with sign ups because of new years resolutions. Everyone wants to get in shape at that time. I would also market it heavily to your current students' parents. Perhaps sending out an info alert to local mom's groups. Our schools have an online bulletin board and I posted my flier there to get more kids but I ended up getting one adult out of it.

My situation is a little different but I thought I would share the method and maybe some of you can apply it to your styles?

I teach belly dance (middle eastern folkloric actually but same thing) Almost all of my dancers are adults because its trendy, you can start late in life, and there are performance opportunities... that is harder to accomplish with other styles and I understand that.

Anyway, here's what works for us, we have a beginner/intermediate session that runs 6 weeks. In that 6 weeks they learn a dance that they can perform for friends, husbands, or at parties. The dances are simple and focus on 4 or 5 steps. They also get a copy of the song. Since they learn the dance instead of just steps they are more likely to finish - and its only 6 weeks - most people can last for that long. Then we take a week off and after that a new 6 week session starts. Also, they pay for the session up front and we keep it cheep - only $50. I find that this also makes it easy for people to invite friends - they can say 'just come learn one dance with me' and the friend can come for the 6 weeks, learn a whole dance and see if they like it. I also get a TON of mom and teen pairs - very popular for some reason.

If someone really discovers they love it we have more advanced options that run weekly and are on the same tuition schedule as our other classes. We also have a troupe that does regular shows at community events. On occasion if a class is doing really well on their 6week dance we have anyone who wants to come to the next show and perform their dance in between troupe numbers. The outgoing ones love that little chance to show what they learn.

We also have professional adult ballet but that is its own animal and we're in a city with a lot of pros who want to stay in shape. Its punch card based like many of you and it does ok - not as well as the belly dance though

I'm not sure that the "Adults Suck" comment was meant to be directed at "Adults" per se, but rather at that market in general as a solid source of income.

The market that comes to me are parents of my dancers. Even then they fizzle. How I treat my adults is a not the issue. They are already coming to me because they are fond of my teaching approach. They don't leave for those reasons. They leave for a plethora of other reasons.

I, personally, take dance class where you can pay per class. Thank goodness they don't have to rely on me for their income, because as an "Adult" with a child who has homework and activities, a dance business and a personal life, sometimes I get there...sometimes I don't. The teacher rocks...I'm just busy.

Your adult market is going to largely depend on your areas demographics, how long you've been established, how large your student base is in general.

I did take the Adults Suck comment negatively and if it was meant as a jab at the market, then I apologize. Guess that's just how it is when you're blogging - you can't hear the person speak...so you interject your own interpretation.

In any case, maybe I just live in an area where we are more successful in marketing to adults. I guess it never occurred to me that the kids would be 'embarrased' by their Moms, because our kids are so supportive at my studio. In fact, they encourage their Moms to join because they think its cool.

Also, we have a lot of former dancers that just want to be able to still recreationally dance...and we're the only studio in the area that will do so AND challenge them.

Our adults actually have better attendance than our kids. We are a large studio in a very large city. I got started with parents. They were all very involved in their kids dance often driving them too and from classes and waiting in the waiting room and many decided they'd rather dance themselves than sit in the lobby. Many continue to dance long after their kids have stopped. The social side is very important to the adults, if they feel the social connections are strong they will always come. We do a lot of things to promote the social aspect.

Little tricks include starting their class about 15 minutes after their kids classes begin for the evening and finishing them about 15 minutes before their kids classes finish. So if their kids do say 5:30-7:30 I'll have the adults in from 5:45-7:15. This basically means they are all forced to wait together before and after class as there is no time to go home. So they socialize, never in a gossipy way either because they have dance in common so they talk about their common interests. Then we give them a few chances in class to do group related things to further strengthen their relationships. They are often getting together for BBQ's and things. BBQ's are a year round pastime in Australia.