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Thread: Getting Men Dancing?

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    Getting Men Dancing?

    Hi all,

    Ladies just love to dance and Gents, typically, seem not so keen. There are often more Ladies at MJ lessons and dances in our area, as is the case for many venues across the country.

    I've Been thinking about this and what, if anything, I can actively do about it.

    As a result, I became curious to know what other people on here have done (or indeed doing) actively to try to attract and, more importantly, retain new Gents and what sort of success (if any) these campaigns had.

    Many thanks - Todd

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by todd View Post
    Hi all,

    Ladies just love to dance and Gents, typically, seem not so keen. There are often more Ladies at MJ lessons and dances in our area, as is the case for many venues across the country.

    I've Been thinking about this and what, if anything, I can actively do about it.

    As a result, I became curious to know what other people on here have done (or indeed doing) actively to try to attract and, more importantly, retain new Gents and what sort of success (if any) these campaigns had.

    Many thanks - Todd
    Attracting Men

    On a night when there's more than 10 ladies over I have "sermon" I deliver which works every time. When the lesson is over I make this part of the "notices".

    "Ladies, you will have noticed we've been blessed with plenty of women tonight. Speaking personally, this is good news for me but I'm sure you'd prefer more men. We've tried to promote for more men, but when we advertise in the paper we attract more women, when we put leaflets through doors with a special offer they appear in the hands of women, guess what happens when we put posters in shop windows? (knowing nods from the ladies).

    When we look at the forms people complete when they start the women say they heard of us in advertising, leaflets, posters, word of mouth, internet, etc. Almost every single guy says he was told to come by a woman!

    It's all down to evolution and natural selection. Women have evolved with fabulous curves and wiles to attract men and manly guys like me have evolved to attract women (points at line of 23 women) and I think my work is done! Also, men have been trained to obey women if they want a quiet life.

    Ladies, the solution is in your hands, use your curves and your womanly ways to attract men - they won't be able to resist. What's in it for you? I know what women really want! Next week I will give every person who brings a new man a large bar of chocolate. Men and chocolate, what more, apart from fabulous shoes, could a woman want?"


    I also put this in the newsletter and it's always worked. Once we had a woman turn up with 5 men on her way to work and take her 5 bars of chocolate away with her! This works better than "bring a new man get in for free" even though the saving is much more than the price of a bar of chocolate - there's no logic once you've shown women the chocolate.

    We've never needed more than 10 bars of chocolate, usually 5 or 6 bars. We share the rest out during the evening - I work the room plying people with chocolate.

    Retaining Men

    This is the difficult one. The best answer is to make the beginners lessons as simple as possible. They really do need to get the routine. If it's too hard for them they don't come back. They want to leave the night feeling successful, not like a complete failure.

    And don't beat yourself up about people not coming back after their first week or two. It doesn't suit everyone.
    Last edited by Andy McGregor; 16th-August-2010 at 11:33 AM.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by todd View Post
    Hi all,

    Ladies just love to dance and Gents, typically, seem not so keen. There are often more Ladies at MJ lessons and dances in our area, as is the case for many venues across the country.

    I've Been thinking about this and what, if anything, I can actively do about it.

    As a result, I became curious to know what other people on here have done (or indeed doing) actively to try to attract and, more importantly, retain new Gents and what sort of success (if any) these campaigns had.

    Many thanks - Todd
    I’m afraid Todd in many parts of the country there are men over or at least even numbers

    It only seems at weekenders that women tend to be the surplus

    Obviously I can’t speak for every venue.

    Imbalances over the years tend to sort themselves out for obvious reasons.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by stewart38 View Post
    I’m afraid Todd in many parts of the country there are men over or at least even numbers
    Send your guys down to Sussex. We have women over all of the time. Not many, usually about 10% - however, one night when the English were playing (losing) in the World cup we had twice as many women as men!

    We do, very occasionally start the night with men over. This sorts itself out later and I can't remember ever having men over in the intermediate lesson.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Thanks Andy. Interesting approach - I like it and will look at stealing the idea from you (if you don't mind!). I rather like the bit:

    "there's no logic once you've shown women the chocolate"

    LOL

    As for retention. Yes, that's alway the hard one. Too hard, too easy - it's that old balance again. And you're right - it isn't for everyone.

    I appluade those that come along 2 or maybe 3 times to "try it out" and then decide it isn't for them. We all know it take a little longer than this for things to start 'sinking in', but at least they've had a go. Sometimes I am guilty of getting a little frustrated though...

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by stewart38 View Post
    I’m afraid Todd in many parts of the country there are men over or at least even numbers

    It only seems at weekenders that women tend to be the surplus

    Obviously I can’t speak for every venue.

    Imbalances over the years tend to sort themselves out for obvious reasons.
    Hi Stewart,

    We get good balance at one venue and a few more ladies than men at the others. It tends to be more noticable at the freestyle dances. We have had men over, but that is rare!!! It is certainly not just at weekenders..!

    I ought to put it into perspective - this isn't a big problem for us. It isn't as if we're getting double the number of Ladies to Men or anything like that, but I'd much rather 'do something' before the "imbalance" "sorts itself out" by existing Ladies getting fed up and leaving...!

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    The venues I go to vary. Some weeks there'll be more men, some (more usually) there's more women. Bizarrely on football match nights, there's sometimes more men than women (as all the women think the men will stay at home watching footy!).

    Most men seem to come along with their OHs/other women as said before.

    The most success we've had at getting more men in (as a group) wasn't by our doing. Near one venue there's an alcohol rehab unit, and the supervisor must have been along, seen there was an activity evening where there was no bar, and lo and behold the next week about 6 nice young men turned up for their one night out a week. Most have been really keen, different ones have turned up each week, and now they've finished their stint, there's still a few still coming regularly. Bizarre, but worked for the venue by fluke.

    We also sometimes get contract workers in - they may be working nearby for a few weeks and are at a loss for something to do, so pop along. It's generally only for a few weeks, but does help with the gender balance, and if they really enjoy it, when they get back home they may then try their local venue.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    I love Andy's chocolate suggestion! Getting men in and keeping them is the eternal problem, we generally tend to be about 60/40 (ladies/men). Ladies tend to come in pairs or even 3 or 4 together, whereas men tend to come alone or with a partner so the balance is always out.

    Men need lots of encouragement in the early stages to keep them coming back, so we try and do that and make sure that some of our experienced lady dancers help and encourage them.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    ...... We have women over all of the time.......
    nah ........ it's your fault - women LOVE YOU !


    --ooOoo--
    Age is a question of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter
    Leroy (Satchel) Paige (1906-1982)

    Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, Minnie, made her film debut, along with Mickey, in "Steamboat Willie" on November 18, 1928.
    That date is recognized as her official birthday.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Minnie M View Post
    nah ........ it's your fault - women LOVE YOU !
    It's a curse

    Or possibly the chocolate

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    It's a curse

    Or possibly the chocolate
    The image that popped into my head just horrified me, I only hope you waxed before smearing yourself with it

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    I remember two nights at the Hibernian Club in Fulham (great days), one evening with 35 ladies extra, and the changing partners went more or less without a hitch. The very next week the men had to move round ONE which left 6 girls without partners every time.

    Having extra ladies and occasionally extra men has been going on since MJ and certainly Ceroc has been.

    One of the reasons of Ceroc not having footwork was to make it easier for men to learn in order to attract more men.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Prian View Post
    One of the reasons of Ceroc not having footwork was to make it easier for men to learn in order to attract more men.
    Ceroc may not have footwork, but I may have mentioned in the past that Modern Jive has very specific footwork

    Speaking personally, I found that being told "there is no footwork" was a negative. Some of us guys like to know how things work so we can take it to bits and put it back together.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    Speaking personally, I found that being told "there is no footwork" was a negative. Some of us guys like to know how things work so we can take it to bits and put it back together.
    Isn't that why MJ grew from Ceroc because of the lack of footwork. People wanted 'more.' I was even of the opinion or rather led to believe that even the current popularity of Salsa stems from this too. Covered in other threads of course.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Prian View Post
    Isn't that why MJ grew from Ceroc because of the lack of footwork. People wanted 'more.'
    MJ didn't grow from Ceroc. MJ was there in the first place. If anything, Ceroc grew from MJ because people wanted/needed less. Ceroc have done a brilliant job of simplifying MJ to get in the maximum number of dancers. This meant they introduced the concept of "there is no footwork" - I think it's a step too far, but it's a step you can take with either foot and in any direction

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by rtwwpad View Post
    The image that popped into my head just horrified me, I only hope you waxed before smearing yourself with it
    There is now a delightful image in my head of women licking chocolate from my smooth chest - unfortunately this alternates with an image of them waxing my chest while laughing in an evil and hysterical way

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Oh dear! We're not about to start another footwork thread are we?! Please. No!

    "No footwork in MJ". Said it on another thread and I'll say it again: If there's no footwork that would imply standing still. As in, on the spot. The minute you move your foot forwards, sideways or backwards you are taking a step (with appropriate weight transfer). That's footwork. No matter how it's re-branded or explained, it is still footwork.

    As for MJ being borne from Ceroc... This is only my understanding so (anyone) feel free to correct me:

    Just like Andy said, MJ was there before Ceroc and, if anything Ceroc grew from MJ. However, back then it wasn't recognized as being called MJ. If I understand correctly it wasn't really called anything, but I believe LeRoc were the main players and that's who, or rather what, James Cronin learnt while studying in Paris.

    Later on down the line, in the early 80's, Robert Austin, a break away Ceroc chap who went onto run his own large franchise under a different name to Ceroc (a battle Ceroc went onto win, obviously) realised the need to give the dance style a generic name. It was he who first coined the name "Modern Jive".

    Shame really too. The name "Modern Jive" has become way to ingrained to change it now, but the use of the word "Jive" brings up all sorts of miss-leading ideas of what the dance is for anyone other than those with zero partner dance knowledge or experience.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by rtwwpad View Post
    The image that popped into my head just horrified me, I only hope you waxed before smearing yourself with it
    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    There is now a delightful image in my head of women licking chocolate from my smooth chest - unfortunately this alternates with an image of them waxing my chest while laughing in an evil and hysterical way
    Why not combine the two activities?

    1. Pour liquid chocolate onto the area that is required to be hair-free and smooth.
    2. Solidify the chocolate using ice, dry-ice or liquid nitrogen.
    3. Rip off the solidified chocolate, taking the unwanted hair with it.

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bubble View Post
    Why not combine the two activities?

    1. Pour liquid chocolate onto the area that is required to be hair-free and smooth.
    2. Solidify the chocolate using ice, dry-ice or liquid nitrogen.
    3. Rip off the solidified chocolate, taking the unwanted hair with it.
    4. Watch in sadistic amusement as some poor soul starts to eat a piece of "enriched" chocolate ???

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    Re: Getting Men Dancing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bubble View Post
    Why not combine the two activities?

    1. Pour liquid chocolate onto the area that is required to be hair-free and smooth.
    2. Solidify the chocolate using ice, dry-ice or liquid nitrogen.
    3. Rip off the solidified chocolate, taking the unwanted hair with it.
    I may stop eating Brazilian chocolate.

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