How to define beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced, etc.

August 4, 2005

I thought I would have some fun with thoughts of the Salsa Mafia website.

Salsa Mafia says, "Beginners can only lead other beginners."

I agree and the reasons for this seem pretty obvious (see below if not so obvious).

Salsa Mafia says, "Improvers can only lead other improvers."

I think this (based upon my experience) is because they are too intimidated by those of higher level and are not good enough to lead beginners to dance to their level effectively.

Salsa Mafia says, "Intermediates enjoy dancing with everyone."

I think this may need elaboration. New enthusiastic intermediates enjoy dancing with everyone. I think that there also are old crusty jaded (more experienced than new enthusiastic types but not really good enough to be considered advanced) intermediates who no longer enjoy dancing with beginners/improvers (unless they are attractive) because novelty has rubbed off. These now mostly dance with other intermediates. More on this below.

Salsa Mafia says, "Advanceds only enjoy leading advanced followers. Even intermediates are no good because they have no ‘soul.’"

This could be true. I can’t say I know for sure because I don’t know if I’m really at this level yet. One question I have is, “Where do teachers belong in this categorization?” They are mostly A-level to Mafia level (although this isn’t/wasn’t always true in Cambridge), but they also are more likely to dance with people with lesser skills compared to others of similar dancing abilities. They can also be a bit of pain to dance with for lesser dancers (especially leaders) because they often are still in teaching-mode and may correct you in the middle of a dance.

I would ask "How do you define beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced, etc. leader?"; the answer is simpler for followers seems simple. I thought one possible solution is to ask how well a particular leader can lead followers of different level. See tables below. Different rows indicate skill level for leaders while different columns indicate skill levels for followers. Different tables represent difficulty of routines/moves being led.


Mafia = Gods and goddesses of the dance floor
A or B level = follower loves or enjoys the routine as it was led
D or E level = follower is uncomfortable or dislikes the routine as it was led

I would argue that if someone who claims to be "Advanced" leader cannot lead "Intermediate" level routine for an "Improver" gracefully (so that the "Improver" enjoys it), he is deluding himself about how good he is.