Love, Courage, Determination, and Persistence in Folk Dancing

Some years ago, my folk dance class attendance slipped from about 20 to four.  I started losing money with the rental of our dance space.

I thought about ending the dance class and giving up the group.  Then a  voice rose within me, which turned out to be my own, said  “Never!  I will never give up this class!  Even if no one shows up and I’m teaching all alone, I’ll dance alone, but I’ll never give it up.   I’ll  choreograph new dances, enjoy old ones, listen to  beautiful folk music.  And I’ll do it until someone shows up.  If no one comes, I’ll just dance alone.  Folk dancing cures and elevates me.  Others, too.  ”So why give up this beautiful class just because no one is coming?  No reason I can think of.”

These thoughts gave me peace of mind.  I continued the class.  I also began promoting  the class in press releases,  announcements  at Meetup.com. , Facebook, local organizations, telephone calls to former dancers, and generally making great efforts to spread the word.

Results were slow in coming. Some evenings we still had three or four dancers showing up.  One evening no one showed up.  Another evening we had only  two.

This “quiet period” lasted about two months.  I continued to promote and publicize.   Slowly, strangely, it even seemed miraculous but one day, a new person showed up.   A few weeks later another new dancer came.  Over the next months, new and former dancers started dribbling in. The group continued to grow.  After a year we were up to 20-25 dancers.

Now the class is bouncing along with renewed wahoos! of  excitement  and enthusiasm.

Love  can bring courage,  determination, and persistence.  And almost anything can happen with these four Beauties in place.