I danced, also watched other people's dances. That reminded me of the different stances and attitudes toward dancing of people.
I wrote a blog entry some time ago, about "Techie"s and "Feelie"s. (link to the article). Yes, you can categorize dancers to Techies (who value skills) and Feelies (who value how they feel about the dance).
Following the notion, let's categorize dancers to four groups with two axes; [skilled-unskilled]("Techie"-axis), and [enjoying-not enjoying]("feelie"-axis).
Now, question #1. Where are you? Which quadrant are you in for this dance?
And, that is not all. Question #2. Where is your partner?
In theory, there are 4x4=16 combinations for a couple (lead and follow) for any social dance situation.
If both of you are in quadrant 1 (skilled-enjoying), that will be great. What we see in YouTube as pro's performances usually belong there.
What if he is "skilled but not enjoying for whatever reason (Quadrant 3)", and she is "unskilled/not-so-good-at-this-dance, but having fun (Quadrant 2)", how will the combination turn out?
This is a thought experiment.
Adding to the game, the quadrant you belong can change. Generally, skills don't change quickly (unless you drink a lot or something), but enjoyment can change quicker.
I read that in some European events, it is banned to ask professionals for social dance. That is probably due to some "consideration" not to turn the Quadrant 1 pros to Quadrant 3 unhappy pros by swamping them with Quadrant 2/4 people.
Well, I hope some of you have as much fun as I had out of this quadrant chart.
