I've said it all before in other threads, so I won't go on at length here. But, for others reading this, I want to say that this description of pro-am dancing is not necessarily true. If you have the right pro, you will learn to dance well. 'Nuff said.

I have been dancing with a teacher
for 9 mo. now and we have our first
comp. coming up soon.

Thinking back and comparing my amateur
partner dancing. Lots of fights over stupid stuff and it is always the guys fault--right? Don't think we had a partnership made in heaven. Not all amateurs fight.. but if you dance with a good pro it is a lot more fun and I feel that my dancing skills have improved faster than when dancing with an amateur. Especially if you express that you are really interested in improving your technique and not doing lots of fancy patterns or showcases.

It is harder for a guy to learn to dance--to begin with most don't have a dance background (ballet, tap, jazz) like most women. He needs to count, lead, have a good frame, floorcraft, and so on. I've heard that sometimes it takes a beginner guy 2 to 3 years to even hear music well. He is just overwhelmed at the beginning with all the other stuff.

I have had good luck dancing with most pro am ladies--especially if they are taught by my male teacher.

It is all about your goal, the reason why you are dancing. For some Pro/Am will make sense, being able to dance with your pro; for others, they want to be able to dance with lots of partners and prefer amateur partner.
If you are doing Pro/Am, only your side of the dancing needs to be fixed; for amateur dancing, both sides probably needs attention.

2 choices, you pick the one that fits your goal.

Some men are naturally good dancers. My husband and I are an amatuar couple, and his ability to learn is more advanced then mine. Often when learning a new concept or step he will watch the ladies part, understand quickly and during practice help me with the step.

My husabnd came from a family that enjoyed music, and music played all the time as he was growing up. This setting gave him good ability to dance to the music when we started to take lessons... My family never played music... So really you never know who is going to excel in a formal instructional setting.

Twinkle Toes. A teacher with only a few months experience would not even be able to correct your posture, let alone tell you how to move.

"A teacher with only a few months experience would not even be able to correct your posture, let alone tell you how to move."

Your "child don't slouch!" grandmother could probably have helped a lot with both. Ballroom posture and movement isn't that unusual really, it's just we have become a society of slobs, and so need an inordinate amount of retraining for activities where it still matters.