With response to this
My views are.
Shooting a so call xmm theme has nothing to do with age, older people can still do it.
In group shoot you may not always have to shoot the cute cute type of shots, if you have an idea, expressed it to the model, depending on the experience of the model, a more experienced one will get it faster than a less experienced one.
Its a 2 way thing, the photographer to capture the moment but its the model that makes it, communication is important. If the photographer does not do give an idea or pose, the model will of course give a very generic happy smily pose which may turn out to be xmm style.
In 1 to 1 shoots, indeed you have more time to do the poses and themes you want, that is provided you have already done your homework and have a plan to carry out. It will be a waste of time otherwise to just stare blanking at each other unless all you want is a date with the model.
In group shoots, you may less time to do what you want but there are things to learn as well, you can suggest and try out new ideas and there are people on the spot to give your feedback if the idea is good or not and you also learn new things from other photographers and sometimes when you do teach or advice other photographers, it will reenforce your own understandings.