Dancing lessons etiquette

[again2020]

I've just started taking DD to dancing, today is her 3rd week. She loves it.
The first week I was allowed to stay and see if was ok for the duration of class (45 mins) but after that you are supposed to drop them off and go. DD is 3.5 and it feels a little odd just leaving her. I spent a couple of minutes today trying to be friendly to the dance teacher (I recognized her from years ago) and said to DD as I left 'have fun, enjoy the pom poms! '(which they had the last 2 weeks) and the teacher rolled her eyes and said 'We don't have them today'. She seemed a bit annoyed. I try to catch the eye of the other mum's/dad's but no one seems to say hello, they just drop their child off and leave. I thought it would be a good way to meet other parents.
Is this a little odd or the way it goes? Really don't want to come across as a pushy mum or desperate for friends 😂 I'm happy to drop her off at class and leave if this is the norm.

Anyone have experiences with this?

My DC are older now but even at that age, for things like dance classes it tended to be a drop and go set up. The tiny waiting room was reserved for parents who came by public transport but others waited in the car. It wasn't exactly friend-making territory at that age but my 16-yr-old has some good friends from dance even though they don't do it anymore.

Yeah that’s the norm.

I think its good she said they didn't have them that day or your child could have spent the whole session waiting for them to come out!

As for making friends - less likely once you drop at activities them tbh. The kind where you waited outside I used to have people I chatted to but not friends.

I think drop off is the norm and the teacher probably doesn’t want to deal with upset children because they’ve been told things like pom poms will be out. I suspect she doesn’t really have much time for chatting at pick up and drop off but you should be able to email her to discuss any concerns you have.

This is common but personally I wasn't keen on this setup for my DD at 4. She did a taster session but when I realised I couldn't watch we switched to gymnastics where I could watch through a window.

Yes it’s normal to drop and go. You will make friends with parents but it can take a long time. Usually happens when there are shows/exams/festivals.

Yes this sounds normal to me. Pre covid we would have regular viewing weeks when we could watch, other than that it was drop and go. I have made some brilliant friends through my children dancing but mainly from when they are doing shows.

Yeah, completely normal for dance classes. The children need to concentrate on what the teacher is asking them to do, without distractions.

Dance studios are often fairly small (unlike a gym at a leisure centre with viewing windows for instance) but most of them do have a waiting area, even if it is only a few chairs in a village hall corridor. Larger purpose-built dance schools often have a cafe and a dancewear shop.