A male or female teacher?

[MadamSamba]

The obvious answer is a good one, regardless of sex, but, assuming your teacher is good, do you prefer a male or female teacher and why?

The answer isn't necessarily always predictable: "I'd rather learn from someone of the opposite sex": _ some people conciously choose (and prefer) to learn from someone who is the same sex. I met a man the other night who was an obsessive dancer but, sadly, couldn't reconcile dancing with another man, even briefly, and he refuses to take classes, even group ones, when males teach it.

What are the advantages of both situations and which do you prefer?

[Kate]

I prefer a female teacher, that way if they need to show you to put your leg a little higher, or do something where they need to touch you as it were, Id feel more comfortable with a female.

[Sabor]

or do something where they need to touch you as it were, Id feel more comfortable with a female.

:shock: females preferring to be touched by females! oooook.. whats the world coming to? :lol: ..betw. umm.. is watching allowed? LOL

[Kate]

Haha very funny.
You know what I mean right?
Please say you do. :shock:

[Sabor]

i'm hoping... 8)

:lol: :wink:

[Pacion]

Kate, I see you have met Sabor? :roll: :lol:

Depending on what it is, I think I prefer a male teacher :oops: Styling, from a female, although, some guys can style as a female, better than some females :shock: :lol:

Whilst I know some women who are incredibly strong leads, I still prefer the male. :( :lol:

[Sagitta]

It does not matter. I look for what the teacher has to offer and if it matches what I want then I go to the person. There are some male teachers, interestingly, who detest even doing the follow role while teaching.

[pygmalion]

I prefer one of each.

[Laura]

I have no preference when it comes to ballroom dancing. (However, if you're going to compete in Pro/Am, you have to have an opposite-sex teacher.) I've never taken ballet from a man, so I have nothing to compare that to.

[danceguy]

I'm not sure if the gender of a teacher matters for learning social dancing, although most of my teachers have been female. The one drawback was that they all knew little or nothing of the leader's parts...showing the moves and being able to actually do them on the floor are two different things. Some classes I used to attend were taught by two teachers who were dance partners which always worked good for me.

My current teacher is female but does both lead and follow equally well. I find this to be wonderful because she can show me the small details of the leader's steps and movements, and then also give me feedback of how my lead feels to her when she dances with me. This has taken my dancing to a whole new level...;) :P

That being said, honestly I prefer a female teacher for Salsa...most of the male teachers I've studied with were more focused on showy moves and dips than teaching the heart and soul of the dance. :?

SG

[dr daffy]

i prefer a female teacher because i'm SO much more comfortable with them. i can do whatever without being embarrassed or uncomfortable.

[dancin_feet]

For private lessons I much prefer a male teacher. Group lessons doesn't matter, male or female are both the same. No matter how much gender equality people try to implement, a male's lead is different to a female's lead. I feel I dance better with a male lead, though have no problem dancing with a female lead. However the leads are usually either lighter or slightly more ambiguous, or too heavy and forceful (trying to compensate for the fact that they don't have the muscle of a male lead).

To illustrate, I have no problem at all maintaining my frame with my male instructor, but dancing with other female instructors and I tend to get comments to maintain my frame. Maybe it's just a mind over matter thing for me? :?

[Genesius Redux]

I think you learn from all sorts of people. My teachers have all been female because I'm doing Pro/Am and it makes it easier. But I've been shown lead styling by many men, and I'll dance with a male teacher, no problems at all.

BTW, if your teacher is a good one, she'll know plenty about leading so I don't think that's really an issue. I do prefer male coaches, but that's mainly because there's an imitative component to getting the coaching. But even then, it depends what style and who's available.

[dancin_feet]

Funny story with a male instructor and male student. I was taking an Argentine Tango group class the other night and there was one new guy who had just come up from a previous group level. We were doing a twisting step where the male flicks his foot up and then places it in between the woman's feet and then she moves forward into a twisting lock movement. For the life of him, he could not get the timing right and kept kicking us in the legs or stepping too far out so that we had no room to twist and lock.

My instructor went up to him and took him into what I call the learning frame (hands on shoulders) and the look on this guy's face was priceless!! :lol: My instructor said to him that he wasn't going to bite and showed him the proper lead and step placement. After that he was OK.

But the initial face that he pulled was a cross between :shock: and :? !! I should imagine that it would take some getting used to for most guys to be dancing with another man.

[SDsalsaguy]

What makes that even funnier d_f is, of course, that that's the history of AT! :lol:

[Genesius Redux]

Yup, guys dancing with other guys in tango to impress the chicks. That doesn't quite square with current gender definitions, does it? :wink:

[DancePoet]

I don't really have a preference. I have a female teacher for private instruction, individually or with a competition partner. My instructor is skilled as both leader and follower and this seems to work very well.

I have been taught by both male and female in group classes. The female instructor works with both sexes as lead and follow. When the male has been the instructor in the group classes, I have had no problem picking up the patterns and he seems to be very good with using his sight to provide additional ideas for improvement. He and I actually posed for a Tango picture as a joke one time, yet we have never actually danced. There does seem to be a strong stigma in our society to this type of male to male interaction, and yet most seem ok when females work together. I wouldn't be opposed to learning something from him directly, but this hasn't occured yet.

Regarding Argentine Tango, in the movies "The Tango Lesson" and "Asassination Tango" there are scenes where two guys work together on steps for their dancing, and having seen these it some how makes it easier for me to be open to the idea of learning from a guy.

But frankly, I very much prefer dancing with a woman. ;)

[dancin_feet]

Yup, guys dancing with other guys in tango to impress the chicks. That doesn't quite square with current gender definitions, does it? :wink:

I don't know, I find it pretty impressive!! Was watching Burn the Floor yet again on the weekend and that section during Passionata that the two guys are facing off is just soooo hot!! :wink: