I don't know that I have seen a trend, other than the normal seasonal one.

Classes (and practise sessions & socials) are quite busy from September & January, but after Easter, anything new struggles, and established classes wane. This year, if anything, attendances have held up better than previously (for me, anyway), but the long, light, Summer evenings do seem to call dancers away to other attractions.

There was a definite increase in business several years ago, with the launch of TV shows like Strictly Come Dancing, and its spinoffs (DWTS in US), but the effect has exhausted itself, I think - after all, there must be a finite number of people who want to dance, and out of every ten couples who start out as raw beginners, I doubt more than three are still going after twelve months.

The drop out rate is considerable, but I think it always was. One real obstacle, in my area, is the availability of anywhere to dance socially. There are lots of dances where a very low standard of social dancing and rather too much sequence dancing is the norm, and the average age range is well into retirement. Very much less common are events where a younger age range and a decent standard can be seen. Outside the very small world of Dancesport (perhaps less than 10% of all dancers, probably much less than that), I sometimes despair of the majority, and their dancing.

It will be 100% Zumba soon...

hmmm, several owners of established studios in my region have had to "re-invent" themselves to survive. I now dance with an independent, while I miss the social culture of meeting people and befriending other students at events or dinners, etc., I've cut way back on the amount of lessons - like down to one lesson a week and competitions? well, I cut those way back as well when my pro decided to raise the rates on everything. I've noticed friends and others who danced - are now at college group lessons, or social events where they can dance and possibly learn something and enjoy the evening or daytime hour(s) without busting their wallet such as a community center with a fundraiser - so their money is going for "something" not just into the studio receivables.

This is traditionally the slowest part of the dance yr.. add in the recession factor, and yes, my business is the lowest ever ( and thats a lot of yrs )

We are weathering the storm fairly well (in Canada). The studio has seen some drop in business so we keep group lesson prices low and we now offer a 'wedding dance' package of 5 hours for a very good price. Also, we have a dance every Friday night. $7.00 per person admission. We have seen an increase in attendance and some of the new people are from other studios. We are trying to create a 'club' feel so people feel they belong to something special. The dancing shows on TV have created interest and people know the difference between a samba and a waltz but they are fooled into thinking that dancing comes easy. As Telemark said, not many beginners make it through the first level. Even fewer go on. Still, we are doing OK.

I dance at or have contact with 3 indy studios. I had to cut back to one group class per week and one private lesson from a high of 4-5 group classes and one private per week due to financial considerations.

I've seen close to a 100% turnover in students at one studio (and that includes losing several people who have been there for years) and attendance seems down by at least 30%. They cut their monthly pass price by 35%.

The second studio is hanging on by a thread, or so I'm told. And the third seems to have a hardcore cadre that is stable but the more casual students have been coming and going.

In reply to the original post, I have now seen all the schools I have contact with take in their Autumn starters, and it is indeed dismal.
The list of enquirers is at about 50% of what we would see a couple of years ago. The actual starters could be 50% of that. So instead of 20-30 beginners, schools are lucky to get say seven starters for a class.

The studio I attend has been suffering its usual Summer slowdown, but that should improve some soon. Some have cut back due to economic difficulties, but still show up on occasion. Many students have left the studio because they tire of being cash cows for the showcase mill. However, I believe we still have a large number of people in the surrounding community who want to learn ballroom in an environment where there is continuity to what they are first taught and later experience, but that, all too often, isn't the case. It's sad. Poor management of client resources hurts a studio worse in bad economic times.

I have seen significantly reduced enrolment, this September, in my new classes, and fewer old faces returning after the Summer break, that I would have liked.

I don't know whether it is just the economic situation, or whether we are seeing a falling off of interest in ballroom dancing. It was pretty much in the doldrums not many years ago, and was revived, rather, by the exposure from TV shows like 'Strictly'. Perhaps the long-term decline has just resumed?

"Dancing with the Stars" is still an enormous hit on TV here in the states, so there remains an interest in dancing -- but more people are choosing to watch now instead of getting on their feet and giving it a try themselves.
I liken it to when Tiger Woods burst on the golf scene, about the same time that new technology came out for better golf clubs, etc. designed to make the game easier. Tons of people were playing golf then, and many then realized it wasn't easy. So they eventually quit, once the fad was over. Throw in the expense now, and those people are done forever.
The same could be happening with ballroom dancing right now. The big surge came when the new TV shows first came out, then many discovered it is not an easy thing to learn, and then the recession came and money got tight on top of it. Those people are probably done with it for good.

At first I thought DWTS would be great for ballroom but now I cringe when anyone calls the studio looking for dance lessons and then says, "we watch DWTS'. They do think that it is going to be easy and I hate to see the frustration they experience. Most don't come back after three weeks of group classes. That's a grand total of 3 hours of instruction! Many people call wanting one hour of private instruction. They are convinced that is all they will need to learn how to dance a waltz. Or "just teach us the jive because the slow dances are easy". I feel bad for the instructors, often it is the longest hour of their lives. We offer a five hour package for wedding couples to learn their first dance. Every one starts out by saying, no, they only want an hour. By the end of the hour the package sells itself.