I went to a milonga last night where the navigation was just about the WORST I ever experienced. Even with my short and long range radar, it was a challenge. My partners said, "It's very crowded." They also complained about being stepped on and kicked from boleos.
If people are getting kicked by boleos, that's the fault of the followers doing the boleos. I teach followers that unless the leader uses so much force that it's painful to resist the momentum, they always have the option of keeping their foot low, and their knees together. Yes, some leaders lead boleos like they are going to do a skater's throw triple axel, but much of the time, it's the followers doing either unled boleos or boleos too big for the space. As a follower, I feel totally ok slamming my fellow followers for this mistake.
To the leaders who lead every boleo so hard that the followers will injure a muscle keeping it low:
Stop doing that!
They want to do figures for which there isn't enough room and do them anyway. They treat the woman like a mannequin or worse, inflatable doll to lead figures beyond their skill level or the woman's skill level. There's one guy who loves to do backward lunges (without looking). The women don't look amused based on their facial expression.
I think this is by far the biggest reason. and I'd lump the 1st part of #2 into this description because they are part of the same issue
(2. They have no technique. )
People dance what they are taught. If they go to classes and workshops and get taught long combinations and fancy step patterns, that's what they will dance. If they get technique, floorcraft, connection, and basic moves drilled into them, they will dance that. (or quit and find another teacher who gives them fancy moves, but there will always be those people... they don't have to form the majority).
One of the reasons I prefer teaching privates or small groups, is that it's easier to focus on fundamentals. I know this sort of teaching can be done successfully because I have had a number of followers tell me they enjoy dancing with my student leaders. Of course, it's not the best way to make money because it's hard to get beginners to invest in privates, and the best results come from people who take a series of privates rather than just one or two.
They think they bought the ENTIRE dance floor. There is space in front of them to move but they would rather hold up the line to do a time and space consuming figure, e.g. parada.
At least people who hold up the line doing a parada or moving slowly aren't as likely to cause someone else injury, so there's that...
My current pet peeve is people who move slowly in the outer lane and then complain about other people "passing on the right". Yeah.. you aren't supposed to squeeze past someone who's in the outer lane by passing them on the right, but on the other hand, you aren't supposed to be moving slower in the outer lane either, and for the couple stuck behind a sloth, veering into the inner lane to pass is also a no-no.
My other current pert-peeve (and it relates) is the leader progressing slower than the general pace of traffic simply because "that's how tango is supposed to be danced" and some arrogant attitude of "I'll enforce the way they do it in BA by simply ignoring what's going on around me and insisting on dancing "The BA way", turning themselves into creeping sloths with loads of space in front of them and a pile up behind.
No musicality. They dance milonga as if the music was tango. This is the equivalent of putting a local train on the express track but runs like it's a local.
Well, that takes time to learn well. I don't think that's the biggest reason floorcraft is an issue. If anything, IME, people get MORE dangerous in milonga, not because they are moving too slow, but because they go hog wild.
Is navigation taught? Is it an afterthought?
I teach it. In fact, at the top of the handout I give all my private students or class attendees is in bold:
Proper Floorcraft is the most important thing in Tango. No matter what moves you learn, if you can’t execute them without making life hell for your partner or other people on the dance floor, you’re not a good tango dancer. This applies to both leaders and followers.
On the top of the "Tips for Leaders" Sheet, I have this:
Floorcraft, Floorcraft, Floorcraft. I can’t say it enough! Dance safely. Everything else is secondary.
Look where you are going, not at your partner, your partner’s feet, or down at your own feet
If all you can manage is basic walking, then do basic walking. Followers would rather do simple walking in a divine embrace than complicated stuff done badly requiring chiropractic repair!
Seriously. No one ever believes me, but it’s true. Ask any advanced follower. Keep it simple!
Now I'll probably get some dissent about whether Floorcraft is THE most important thing in tango, but I figure I'd rather err on the side of over-emphasis that under-emphasis.
