Learning specialty dances from a generalist

[pygmalion]

I'm in the market for a dance coach or two, and I need an opinion. Two of the dances I want to learn this year are Argentine tango and Lindy hop. Is it better to take lessons with a teacher who does both, such as a ballroom teacher that's branched out? Or is it better to go to specialists in each dance? What should I consider? Is there any good way of making this work without breaking my pocketbook?

[SDsalsaguy]

For my money, and without any additional information, I'd advocate going to specialists in each one. Based on my salsa experiences, 90%+ of the ballroom instructors who teach salsa could be danced off the floor by any number of club regulars.[*1] And I take it as quite telling that national champions and finalists (in different disciplines and from different countries at that!) have told me that they know they don't "know" salsa. This doesn't mean, of course, that they can't do it but, rather, that they recognize their own limitations.[*2]

Now, if there are Lindy and AT specialists and/or experts who tell you that generalist/branched-out-ballroom-instructor "X" is a good person to take from, well, that's an entirely different ballgame.

For Lindy I'd ask d nice if he could recommend anyone in your general area and, at the least, run the names of any potential teachers by them.

Just my 2 cents...


[*1] This isn't to say that these people would be better teachers.

[*2] It occurs to me that this might be one of the very traits that helped them to become champions in the first place. Hmmm, I think I'll have to start a topic on that very subject...

[KevinL]

Is it better to take lessons with a teacher who does both, such as a ballroom teacher that's branched out? Or is it better to go to specialists in each dance? What should I consider?

It's almost always better to go with a specialist, they are further grounded in whatever technique or style makes a dance special.

However, a generalist might be able to teach you better how to differentiate the dance because they know other ballroom styles.

Consider the opinion of other dance teachers, and what you already know about dancing. You are already well informed about dance in general and know what you need to learn to get where you want to go with those dances, you just need specific coaching to get there.

[MadamSamba]

I'd definitely go with the specialist. Like salsa, there are plenty of people who claim to know AT and swing, and while they might know enough to entertain and convince non-dancers of their grasp of each dance, you simply cannot beat learning anything from someone who specialises in an area.

Besides, AT taught by someone who learned on the streets of Buenos Aires (not that that's the only way to become a specialist) or Lindy Hop by a teacher obsessed with swing won't even compare to a generalist who might know the vanilla dance, but not all the beautiful, trademark moves and techniques and musicality. Not to mention the people, the history and all those tiny, beautiful tips that can only be passed on by someone who truly knows a dance, who breathes a dance and it's music.

I know that's all pretty obvious advice, but it's a great topic, particularly for those new to ballroom. I remember when I started, I thought my first teacher was a dancing god. He did ballroom, new vogue, street latin and swing. I thought he was a genius and he is, but his knowlege of all but his favourites is only good enough to teach absolute beginnners and, especially once I started learning "proper" waltz and tango, I quickly realised it was time to move on to a more specialised teacher who could show me more than the basic moves and answer my perpetual "whys?".

As SD says, there are plenty of competition-level ballroom salsa dancers who would get their butts kicked on the dancefloor by even a regular club goer. (OK, so he didn't quite say it like that, but you get the gist) :)