The Guys
1. It helps you to understand how light your lead can actually be. It really isn't about how much strength you use, it’s all about technique.
2. You start to understand the difference between the follow of a beginner, intermediate and an advanced dancer, which you would never be able to tell if you just danced with your fellow classmates who are as green as you. When you dance with a more advanced follower, you realise just how 'light' and easy the dance can be. When you don't have to spend extra energy controlling someone who is constantly trying to backlead you, you be free to concentrate on your lead and turn patterns. Learning how to adjust the strength of your lead when dancing with beginners, intermediate or advanced dancers will make you more aware of your lead technique and help you improve drastically.
3. It gives you an opportunity to evaluate yourself. You get to ‘test’ the effectiveness of your lead when dancing with better followers. For example, you will know you nailed a move if you can lead ANY girl into it. That is why practicing new moves with your classmates won’t be a real test of your lead. If you can lead a move on four out of five of the ‘better’ followers, then you can be sure you’re on the right track. However, if three out of five of them have no idea what you’re doing, then you know it’s time to evaluate your lead.
4. You get a chance to ask for feedback. Most guys don’t ask for feedback on their dancing. They are either too shy or too afraid of what they’ll hear. But the fastest way to improve is to listen to feedback, maybe you shouldn’t be lifting your hand that high, maybe you should be using a little less force, maybe you should be leading one count slower. Most advanced dancers don’t mind giving a little feedback but most of them don’t, unless specifically asked, because not everyone wants to know the truth.
However, moderation is key. Don’t go around asking for feedback from every dancer after every single dance. People do want to have fun after all, so only ask when appropriate.
5. You learn how to give a lady space for styling. You learn how to be an ‘independent’ dancer, unafraid of shines. Sometimes, a lady needs some space to express herself to the music and it can a little difficult to do that when you’re constantly holding both her hands and putting her into crazy turn patterns.
The Ladies
1. First of all and most importantly, you get to understand what a good lead is. You will find out that a dance is a lot more enjoyable than you think. You’ll realize that there’s no pulling or tugging involved in dancing.
2. You can concentrate on just following your partner’s lead. It can be intimidating at first but it’s more challenging and a whole lot more fun. Usually when you dance with your own classmates, you know most the moves they know, so you end up either trying to correct the guys or doing the move anyway because you know what’s coming. That does not do a thing to help your partner’s lead or following technique, in fact, it could even worsen it.
3. You get exposed to more complicated turn patterns and different turn patterns that you’ve never seen before. By following turn patters which are foreign to you, you are relying solely on your following technique and your instincts, rather than what you’ve been taught in class. Social dancing beyond your fixed circle of friends is really the only way to train your following technique and make your following more sensitive to different kinds of lead.