Dancing with beginners

I was inspired by Sorin's post about how beginners decide between a good dancer and the "good-dancers-that-only-look-good-to-beginners". It inspired me to write on how to dance with a beginner if you're a bit more experienced.
Not so long ago I saw an experienced dancer teaching an absolute beginner how to do a gancho. Now, this is like teaching a child that has never rode a bike to go downhill on a steep, rocky mountain. This person should be liable for any damages that this helpless beginner is going to do. I am not going to go into technicalities on how to lead or follow a gancho because that is NOT the reason why this blog exists. But needless to say that, if you're dancing with a beginner or even a post-beginner, DO NOT lead ganchos or any complex movements that will confuse this poor person.
If you dance with a beginner, walk to the music, keep it simple, make the beginner know how it acutally feels to dance to the music. You'll be doing a great job! A fantastic job! And if you think that dancing with a beginner is boring because they can only do a handful of things then you should (1) re-think why you're dancing and (2) lead SIMPLE things. Walking on the beat, front ochos, back ochos, crosses... These are all things that beginners should be doing and perfecting. Remember, when dancing with a beginner you're being responsible for the education of someone. Would you like to teach 5th grade stuff to someone who has just entered 1st grade?

Web 2.0 generation of tango

I remember that when I started tango the only way to see the top couples dancing was by having them to come to your place for tutoring and the occasional demo. Nowadays, full classes, demos and interviews are only a click away in Youtube or something like that.
Is this good? In a way, it allows tangoers to see more styles and more moves and it broadens their horizonts. However, it has the other side of the coin:
1 - you get more and more people trying to learn complicated steps online before they know how to walk properly, ignoring basic concepts that underlie those same steps they want to learn.
2 - you start getting Chicho's or Pablo Verón wannabes. Now, I have seen Chicho dancing in milongas and he doesn't do a 100th of the fantasia steps that he does on his demos. Wannabes do not understand this and they are the reason why some milongas get craply rated.
3 - Having seen 100 times you favourite dancer and trying to mimmick all his moves doesn't make you like him. It makes you a cheap imitation.


In conclusion, watch the videos in youtube from your idols but remember - be yourself when you dance rather than a regurgitation of somebody else.