New Students Due To "Dancing With The Stars"?

[DancePoet]

Are there new students showing up for ballroom dance lessons saying they have decided to take lessons as a result of seeing the current U.S. t.v. show called "Dancing With the Stars" :?:

Other threads regarding "Dancing With the Stars" are listed below:

preshow and week 1 (discussion) http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9152
week 1 (poll) http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9845
week 2 (discussion) http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9909
week 2 (poll) http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9927
week 3 http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10023&sid=24cd4bf1dc464afecd78f955e42d4dab
week 4 http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10123&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
week 5 http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10219
week 6
soundtrack http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9893
new students? http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10122&highlight=dancing+stars
judges & contestants http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9928&start=0
in the news http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10054&highlight=dancing+stars
music http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10036&highlight=dancing+stars
sold out http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9883&start=0
free tickets http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9233&start=0

[breathedance]

I don't know about new students, but when I went to the doctor today and told her I did ballroom, she and her nurse wanted to know all about it, since they'd seen the show! Asked me where my studio was and everything.

[Yliander]

Are there new students showing up for ballroom dance lessons saying they have decided to take lessons as a result of seeing the current U.S. t.v. show called "Dancing With the Stars"? in Australia I know that this show (Australia has already had 2 series of this show) combined with another show called Strictly Dancing (into series 3)http://www.abc.net.au/strictlydancing/ has increased the interest in dancing in all styles ballroom, modernjive, swing, hip hop - I know of a number of new students who have admitted that seeing these shows have gotten them off the couch and actually at a class

[desidirata]

i know. i'm in aust too and we have at least 20 new young girls start and maybe 3 guys (teenagers) start our beginner social ballroom class.

[Medira]

I don't teach, so I don't know about numbers showing up at the studios. I do know though, that when people find out I dance, I get asked a ton of questions about it. It's nice to get and excited and enthusiastic response when I tell someone I dance as opposed to somebody looking at me like I've suddenly sprouted wings and a tail.

[redhead]

no new students as far as I know, but people do seem very interested - not in dancing, but in watching

[DanceMentor]

At our school we have been having an outing each week where we go to a sports bar and get them to pay the show. We definitely getting people interested that way.

[lynn]

I can see how ppl are tempted to take ballroom classes just b/c of the show. I know in the past week, I've seen tons of new students in our studio, not sure if it's due to the show though....

[DancePoet]

I can see how ppl are tempted to take ballroom classes just b/c of the show. I know in the past week, I've seen tons of new students in our studio, not sure if it's due to the show though....

Well, I haven't seen an increase at the local studio yet, but perhaps this will develop over time as the show progresses. When I see new people I like to ask them why they started ballroom, and even if it is not because of a t.v. show, it is usually a interesting reason.

[lynn]

When I see new people I like to ask them why they started ballroom, and even if it is not because of a t.v. show, it is usually a interesting reason.

That's a great motivation, but how much "staying power" is there? I know if that's the reason I started ballroomd ancing and don't see myself being as good as the contestants are in a month or so, I'd get really frustrated. I tend to think dancing is something that takes a lifetime to master (o.k., i know there r natural dancers out there :lol: , but i'm talking about average ppl like myself).

[alemana]

i wonder if the studios really care about staying power. they make more money with turnover rather than retention, it seems to me.

[lynn]

I think the studios are always trying to get the students to stay (the old attracting new customers is five times more expensive than maintaining existing customer analogy probably doesn't work here). Afterall, they're the staple for the business. It's always good to have new students, but that's unpredictable. I would love to ask my teacher whether or not they've been getting new students because of the show but he probably wouldn't tell me.....confidential info and all :wink: ...

[DancePoet]

When I see new people I like to ask them why they started ballroom, and even if it is not because of a t.v. show, it is usually a interesting reason.

That's a great motivation, but how much "staying power" is there? I know if that's the reason I started ballroom dancing and don't see myself being as good as the contestants are in a month or so, I'd get really frustrated. I tend to think dancing is something that takes a lifetime to master (o.k., i know there r natural dancers out there :lol: , but i'm talking about average ppl like myself).
Ayuh. Some people will stay and some won't.

[DancePoet]

i wonder if the studios really care about staying power. they make more money with turnover rather than retention, it seems to me.
Probably needs to be a balance. However, retaining students/customers could be just as important as in any other business.

[DancePoet]

I would love to ask my teacher whether or not they've been getting new students because of the show but he probably wouldn't tell me ... confidential info and all :wink: ...
Why would that be confidential as long as the answer was a general yes or no as to whether or not they were getting new students coming in because of the show? :?

[alemana]

i feel quite sure that a story on this very subject will appear in the NYT very soon.

[lynn]

Considering how the dancing industry will probably benefit from the show, i wonder if some of the studios actually sponsored it? I should definately check the credit section next time.

[Larinda McRaven]

The show is co-produced by Arthur Murrays Inc.

[alemana]

i think we had a discussion about that somewhere earlier... that since AM had sponsored it, no other studio not affiliated with them could use the name of the show to promote their own studio.

[DancePoet]

Yes, I'd like to see if the credits mention them.

I bet the local AM studios are probably promoting the show since AM has helped sponsor it.

If I recall, AM was also promoting the U.S. version of "Shall We Dance", too.

I suspect that neither of these has had a huge impact on folks going to AM just because of the sponsorship, but once a person is through their door and they see the publicity being done inside, then perhaps it might have an impact on someone choosing to sign up or not.

[alemana]

oh yeah, it was with regard to SHALL WE DANCE that we had this convo already. if AM also has their hands in the tv show, you can best believe no other nonaffiliated studio will be able to even blink in the direction of the show.

[DancePoet]

Well it seems "Shall We Dance" had an impact on pulling more people into the studios for lesson, AM or not. I suspect "Dancing With the Stars" will do the same thing, AM or not.

I haven't heard anything yet at the local studio, but it's only been four weeks and with the ratings evidently being high it might just be a matter of time before we start hearing of folks who are getting lessons because they saw the new U.S. t.v. show.

[alemana]

i wonder if the show debuting during vacation season (when ballroom studio attendance is down) is going to mute the new student impact a bit.

[lynn]

I agree, summer season doesn't seem to be the best time to promote ballroom dance. Seeing sunlight seeping through the curtains while I'm having a class is just too tempting... :roll:

But funny enough, I haven't seen the local AM studios do much promotion with regards to "Dance with the Stars", I wonder if it is because I live in Canada and there isn't much publicity?? It's true that the program probably benefitted all dance studios in general as students probably don't really care about who sponsored the show.

[DancePoet]

i wonder if the show debuting during vacation season (when ballroom studio attendance is down) is going to mute the new student impact a bit.
Interesting question ...

Maybe it will actually increase anyway with new people, even thought the regulars might take a break?

Then again, how many of us regular dancers really take a break over the summer?

(DP, new thread idea :idea:)

Ayuh.

[BrookeErin]

well, I went to two of our four club nights last week (different club each night) and they were both practically over-run with beginners... they had classes at the beginning of the night and the floor was packed both nights.

[alemana]

salsa?

[chandra]

dance poet: is ayah a popular saying where you live?
(just curious cause i was in "our town" and there was alot of ayahs in it... I actually had quite a habit of saying that for a bit..."

[DancePoet]

well, I went to two of our four club nights last week (different club each night) and they were both practically over-run with beginners... they had classes at the beginning of the night and the floor was packed both nights.
Wow! Are they really showing up because of the t.v. show?

Oh and by the way, BrookeErin, another nice picture of you for your current avatar! ;)

[DancePoet]

dance poet: is ayah a popular saying where you live?
(just curious cause i was in "our town" and there was alot of ayahs in it... I actually had quite a habit of saying that for a bit..."
Actually I'm using from my experiences with the Down East/Backwoods accent that I experienced quite a bit a ways back now.

[chandra]

Thats right, you got that award didnt you? (i mean DF award ;)) ayah

oops, sorry for the seguey (sp?) :oops: :) :o

[BrookeErin]

yes, sorry, I was referring to salsa... I think it's just part of the fad of dancing currently

Thank you, DP :wink:

[iluvballroom]

alot more dancers this year at my dance studio! The studio i am at is where ashly delgrosso teaches. They also hired to new dance teachers because they are expecting so many more dancers!
iluvballroom!

[lynn]

i know our studio has experienced a high volume of new comers during may-july, not sure if it's b/c of the show though.

[Indiana_Jay]

My wife and I are examples of new students who were affected by DWTS. It's not the only reason we started taking lessons, but it helped motivate us to get off the couch and start sampling studios.

[pianoman]

I think it's definitely had a big impact.

In fact it means I have a job now because I was hired to deal with some of the backlog (yay!). But it means the floors have a lot more beginners (I don't mind) and therefore crouded (bad!)

An aside: yet another reason why AMI is not a great place to go; they spend too much money on promotion (why by implication means they have to offer weaker product and higher prices to turn out profit). Not that most studios are complaining...

I wonder who sponsored DWTS in Australia; possibly dance dynamics because it was the only dance studio I heard mentioned on the show... I'd have to do some research to find out. Can anyone help here?