[TANGO-L] And the new World Champions are ...

[Ba Tango <rhink2 @NETSCAPE.NET>]

Hola Listeros,

I personally prefer not to make my avocation like my job.  Tango (and dance
in general) is my avocation; competition makes it more like work. Therefore,
I stay away from competitive dancing.

However, I recognize the value of competition.  For those who enjoy
competing, I believe, competition sharpens their skills and promotes their
creativity. Those who strive in these directions are those who keep the
dance alive.  If no one tried to create new moves or improve old ones, tango
would suffer attrition and finally die from atrophy.  In fact, it almost did
die that way.

The comment about West Coast Swing (WCS) makes exactly this point.  To take
it a step further, WCS competitors besides doing the showy, choreographed
routines, came up with a cometition of social dance skills.  The event is
sometimes known as a Jack n' Jill contest.  In this contest, followers and
leaders are paired randomly; the music usually is unknown to the
competitors.  The competition is judged on the partners being together and
being with the music.  Since Argentine tango, like WCS, is highly
improvisational, I believe such a competition would work well in tango.

I should mention that a dance competition is only as good as the judging.
The judging scandals in figure skating at the Salt Lake City Olympics show
how bad it can get.  But to a lesser degree if the judges are too narrow in
their criteria, the result might be to stifle creativity rather than to
promote it.  Given to choice of having that kind of competition or none at
all, I'd take the latter.

Now about art and competition.  Didn't Van Cliburn win the first
International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958? Is music not art? Didn't Maya
Ling Yin submit a design in a competition to honor those who died in
Vietnam?  Isn't the Vietnam Wall art?


Bob Hink




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