It seems like this has been covered before on nearly every tango blog, yet it always surprises me to see it happen at milongas. There were three instances this weekend. *sigh*
A few words of advice for dancers that feel the need to teach at the milonga . . .
Leaders: Don't assume that if a follower doesn't follow something you led, that she doesn't know how to follow it. To be clear, that doesn't mean you need to assume you led it wrong - there could be other reasons she chose not to follow it (there wasn't room, it was uncomfortable, skirt was too tight/short etc.) To take those instances of a lead being missed, or ignored, as a "teaching moment" at a milonga, may find you getting a lot of averted eyes the next time you look for a dance.
And really, if a leader has to explain a step to get a follower to follow it, there are already problems. The follower wasn't ready to be led the step, or wasn't in a position to follow it for whatever reason and explaining it verbally, in front of others at a milonga, worsens the problem and puts your reputation as a desirable leader on thin ice.
Followers: The same goes for us. Unless a leader is painful or uncomfortable (emotionally or physically), to follow, it is not okay for us to teach at the milonga either.
Teaching, or worse, reprimanding a dancer over mis-followed or mis-led steps, doesn't make you look smart, it makes you look like a jerk.
Comments
People teaching at milongas are jerks - total jerks. They are missing the key point that people go to milongas to enjoy the milonga - whether dancing or socialising or whatever, NOT to be told off.
If any men are reading this - DON'T DO IT! Even if you are clever - you can't be THAT clever because you don't get the basic idea - people aren't there to listen to your teaching.
I once was awestruck by someone who promotes himself as a teacher, and strongly promotes the codigos of tango, including the never teach on the milonga floor. And when he came to my community, I watched him do this very thing. He choose the beginners of the community and then "taught" them how to follow him during a milonga. I also observed him doing this in Buenos Aires.
And it simply amazes me that people still do this, and I have a feeling that we will still be talking about this in 20, 30 or even 50 years....
It seems to me like those who will suffer practical consequences of teaching on the floor - the consequence being reduced popularity - are improvers who think rather highly of themselves. There are probably no real consequence for more advanced dancers, and if they are in the habit of teaching on the floor, they will likely continue doing so and get away with it.
I'd amend the advice as - "Teach at your own peril on the floor. Very few have the social status to get away with it. Aspire to earn the skills and the social status that cones with those skills so that you would be awesome one day, then decide for yourself whether you want to risk teaching on the floor or not".
I have even found myself teaching in a milonga! Those times the follower was a new fantastic dancer and I let my dance just to flow. Then we stuck somewhere and I just wanted to get that litle detail right / .... or she eagerly wanted to know how to fix that detail. Today I refuse to tell.
... but I have also seen followers teaching at pistas!