> I do think it's important to encourage people to dance with newcomers, but there's also the fact that it is -work- to dance with a newbie.
It's WAY more work for the newcomer. Even at an intermediate level, you are already running on a lot of habitual programming while the newcomer is processing the universe.
However, this also splits based upon lead vs follow.
Expert leaders have a fairly easy time with amateur followers. The lead can dial things down until the follower can cope. The follower can't force something on a leader.
Expert followers have a much more difficult time. The leader may very well need the follower to help but the ability to help well is a very rare skill. In addition, too many intermediate followers think they are better than they are. There is also the issue that dancing with an expert follower is like driving a super responsive sports car, you, as a leader, will find out just how sloppy and crappy your control really is.
To top it off, followers can get injured by amateur leaders. The swing community is especially bad for this. Even if we exclude idiotic people doing acobatic-type maneuvers that they shouldn't be doing, the pace of the dancing combines with adrenaline so that you can put far too much force in your lead as an amateur. A simple behind the back exchange can injure someone's shoulder when executed incorrectly.
As for the social dimension, if your group is well-balanced between leaders and followers, amateur leaders tend to get ignored. This isn't a problem if you have an excess of followers, but, if you have an excess of followers, your community is probably going to collapse shortly.
It's WAY more work for the newcomer. Even at an intermediate level, you are already running on a lot of habitual programming while the newcomer is processing the universe.
However, this also splits based upon lead vs follow.
Expert leaders have a fairly easy time with amateur followers. The lead can dial things down until the follower can cope. The follower can't force something on a leader.
Expert followers have a much more difficult time. The leader may very well need the follower to help but the ability to help well is a very rare skill. In addition, too many intermediate followers think they are better than they are. There is also the issue that dancing with an expert follower is like driving a super responsive sports car, you, as a leader, will find out just how sloppy and crappy your control really is.
To top it off, followers can get injured by amateur leaders. The swing community is especially bad for this. Even if we exclude idiotic people doing acobatic-type maneuvers that they shouldn't be doing, the pace of the dancing combines with adrenaline so that you can put far too much force in your lead as an amateur. A simple behind the back exchange can injure someone's shoulder when executed incorrectly.
As for the social dimension, if your group is well-balanced between leaders and followers, amateur leaders tend to get ignored. This isn't a problem if you have an excess of followers, but, if you have an excess of followers, your community is probably going to collapse shortly.