Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers

So what's the best way or ways to recruit younger dancers. We have a college community, or more than one, here. I have tried to think how to attract them but it all seems lame. The best I can come up with is a flash dance on common ground. The colleges aren't geared to our types of music or dance so it's hard to approach it from that aspect. Ideas??? ~ When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~ ~ > ________________________________ > From: Greg McKenzie<grekenzie(a)gmail.com> > To: Caller's discussion list<callers(a)sharedweight.net> > Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:41 AM > Subject: Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers > > Thank You Richard for this topic. > > You did a great job of describing the situation. Word of mouth is > key. All > of the other methods of "getting the word out" are ancillary at > best and > should be regarded as serving to support the word of mouth > effort. Flyers, > for example, are there to remind folks of what they heard from > someone else > and substantiate the reference they have heard. This is one > reason I think > flyers should be limited to only the vital information needed to > participate. Flyers work better when they do *not *attempt to > persuade > anyone or tell them *why *they should attend. In a similar vein > flyers > should also not attempt to describe or define the dance. Assume > that the > reader has already heard about the dance from a friend or an > acquaintance. > > Using some reverse psychology is important. If the reader thinks > the flyer > is "begging" for new participants it can be a turn off. In this > respect > small dances might consider setting an exclusive tone in the sense > that it > is a "best kept secret" rather than a poorly attended dance. I > have seen > this work for small dances in our area. When dancers "discover" a > small > dance and view it as a private secret other dancers become very > interested. > Some dancers will keep the secret for fear that lots of new people > will > destroy the "charm" of the small dance. This also works for > newcomers. > > You are absolutely correct about the role of young people. Here > in Santa > Cruz, CA the area dance society has welcomed young people to > become key > players in the dance community. Several are on the Board of > Directors, > several are musicians at dances, and at least one is a caller. > > I don't, by the way, view this process as one of "recruiting" new > dancers. > I view it as a way of opening the dance events to the wider > community. That > is a different perspective. If we view the dance as a community > social > event the goal shifts from one of attempting to convert newcomers > into dance > enthusiasts to one of simply opening the dance to a more diverse and > interesting community of participants. An effort to "convert" > people or > "get them hooked" requires too much energy and is not consistent > with the > explicit message that "all are welcome" and "no experience is > needed." > > - Greg McKenzie