[Tango-L] Some people would complain if you hung them with a new rope...

[TangoDC.com]

Dancing with a better partner is certainly a good way to improve. (I 
don't think anyone is disputing the truth of that.) But so is dancing 
with a beginner. It's very easy to lead a great partner to dance 
gracefully, because that person can already dance; but it takes a lot of 
skill (and no small amount of effort) to lead a beginner through a dance 
without mistakes, let alone one in which she (the beginning follower) 
feels not only confident, but graceful, musical, and so forth. Every 
mediocrity at a milonga can get good moves out of the best chick there; 
but only a real guapo can get nice ochos out of the worst.

I was once teaching a class on boleos, and one student was working with 
my teaching partner. She's already done thousands of boleos, so the 
response in her was ready-- and additionally primed by it being the 
class subject. You could use the worst arm-pumping technique in the 
world (rather than just stepping around her) and you'd probably get a 
boleo out of her-- an ugly one, but she would do it. I broke them apart, 
and had him practice with me-- and I'm an atrociously bad follower. He 
could only get a boleo out of me if he used clean technique, because my 
body won't do one otherwise. Well, he had me doing honest boleos, front 
and back, with either leg, after a few minutes and a few tips. And there 
was zero freestyle-swimming in the embrace. And I'm possibly worse than 
a rank beginner, because I didn't even shave that day.

Now, that's a formal teaching context and not a milonga. But I think the 
point is clear: If you want to refine your dancing, there's no sense in 
avoiding beginners.

The same is true for the stud-hungry followers out there, who make 
themselves an annoyance. True, it's awful to sit and wait. But to sit 
and wait all night for a particular dancer (or class of dancer) is a 
stupid move, especially if you didn't plan ahead and bring a good book 
with you.

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC


Rick Jones wrote:
> If anyone is trying to improve at anything that is essentially a partner endeavor, interacting with someone who is better than they are is a classic, tried-and-true way to go about it.
>