Success Isn't Keeping Everyone—It's Gaining Someone

One of the most discouraging moments for club leaders comes after beginner lessons.

"We started with 18 students, but only five are dancing a year later."

It's easy to focus on the 13 who didn't stay.

But what if we looked at it differently?

You didn't lose 13 dancers—you gained five.

While there are no national statistics tracking square dance retention, many experienced callers and clubs report that only about 30–50% of those who begin lessons are still actively dancing one year later. In other words, retaining every student has never been the norm.

The same is true for many activities. Fitness centers, sports leagues, volunteer organizations, and community groups all experience turnover. People's lives change. Work schedules shift. Children arrive. Interests evolve. Not everyone who tries an activity will make it a lifelong hobby.

That doesn't mean your efforts failed.

If five people discover a lifelong love of square or round dancing because your club offered lessons, you've changed five lives—and strengthened your club.

Imagine if every club added five new active dancers every year. Over time, that steady growth would have a tremendous impact on the future of square and round dancing.

The key is recognizing that club growth is a long game, not a one-season project. It takes persistence, patience, and a willingness to keep reaching new people.

It also means being willing to try new approaches. Today's adults often have busy schedules and many competing commitments. Instead of relying on one traditional lesson series each year, consider adding new entry points such as:

• Monthly "Learn and Dance" nights
• Short introductory workshops
• Family-friendly dance events
• Beginner tips during regular dances
• Year-round opportunities for people to join
• Social dances that require little or no experience

Not every idea will be successful—and that's okay. Every successful organization learns by experimenting, evaluating, and improving.

Perhaps the most important factor in retention isn't the lesson program itself—it's the experience people have when they walk through your doors. People return to places where they feel welcomed, accepted, included, and where they can be themselves.

So celebrate every new dancer.

Celebrate every new friendship.

Celebrate every small step forward.

Because rebuilding square and round dancing won't happen overnight. It will happen club by club, dancer by dancer, year by year.

And that's exactly how lasting growth is built.

Round Dance Promotional Videos: Ready to Use!

We are finished editing our Round Dance Promotional Interviews, now it's your turn to use them to attract new dancers to Round Dance. There are two similar sets, one with an Square Dance Revival! end card, and one without for you to use to promote your own round dance lessons. Don't know how to attach at end card? We've got your covered! Click on the button below to access both sets as well as instructions on attaching your own promotional end card in the free version of Canva.

Here are examples of the videos:

Help Us Design Leadership Training That Serves You Best!

We are almost a fifth of the way toward our goal of 500 responses. Few opportunities have as much potential to influence the future growth of our clubs as this survey. Please forward this newsletter to your club members and encourage them to respond. This button goes directly to the survey: Building Leadership Skills to Ensure Future Growth: Square & Round Dancer Survey

Missed a Podcast? Click below to listen.

We are recording this summer and will be back in the fall.

New Guide: Understanding Personality Differences

National Social Media Campaign!

“Busting myths. Welcoming dancers. Reviving the joy of dancing together.”

Our switch to Instagram is paying off, we are getting more click throughs to find lessons per view and reaching more young people. That's about a 10% click through rate. To date, on Instagram alone, we've reached 23,765 people and 2,403 people have clicked through to find lessons. In the Facebook campaign, we reached 552,300 people and achieved around 1000 click throughs, less than a 1% click through rate.

You may want to switch your lesson campaign to Instagram, especially if you are in an urban area.

Your donation directly increases the reach of this campaign.

Find out how much impact you can make here:​​

Every dollar allows us to introduce dancing to more people, faster—helping more clubs connect with new dancers and bringing new energy into the activity we love.

Together, we can show a new generation that square and round dancing are fun, social, healthy, and welcoming for everyone.

If you see one of our promotional interviews on your social media, please let us know!