[ducasi]

I think initially, all a leader needs to help them improve is a competent, but not necessarily "good", follower – i.e., someone who can follow, but isn't yet an expert. That way correct leading should be rewarded, and incorrect leading will not be compensated for.

Once the leader can lead this type of follower well, a more expert follower can bring extra challenges and help them become musical dancers, rather than just leaders of moves.

Dancing with learner followers is a tricky one. It helps competent leaders learn to dance with *anybody*, which is a useful skill in itself, though I think it's maybe more important to learn to dance with people who can dance first. That said, availability is probably an overriding factor.

(I could go into a learning to drive analogy, but I think I've talked about this before and it should be obvious, right?)

Overall though, in a social dance, the social rule about dancing with "everyone" is more important.