The Tango-L mailing list archive
Digest from 10 Sep 1999
to 11 Sep 1999
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Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 03:00:09 -0400
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Subject: TANGO-L Digest - 10 Sep 1999 to 11 Sep 1999 (#1999-2)
There are 15 messages totalling 809 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. New addresse/Nuevo direccion La Cadena
2. The finer points of dancing
3. Sunday Milonga @ Hallandale
4. Argentine Dancers and Teachers
5. FW: Message for Tango Lovers, 20 Tangos in MP3 format for your download
FREE
6. ARGENTINE TANGO CHAMPION
7. terminology
8. TERMINOLOGY
9. Argentine Tango World Championships
10. AT World Championships televised?
11. AT World Championships - response (2)
12. Howlin & Grill workshops in Colorado, 9/23-10/4
13. Fwd: Re: AT World Championships - response
14. AT World Championships
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 17:27:07 +0200
From: La Cadena <redactie @CADENA.DEMON.NL>
Subject: New addresse/Nuevo direccion La Cadena
ls,
La Cadena, the tangomagazine of The Netherlands has a new email-address:
La Cadena, La revista de tango en Holanda tiene una nueva direccion:
info @cadena.demon.nl
(sorry if you receive this message twice)
(lo siento si recibe este mensaje dos veces)
Jan Dirk van Abshoven
Editor
La Cadena, Tangomagazine for The Netherlands
PO Box 59054
1040 KB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel +31206822203
fax +31206822339
info @cadena.demon.nl
http://www.zap.to/cadena
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 23:32:52 +0800
From: Juan Rando <juan @STARWON.COM.AU>
Subject: The finer points of dancing
Lately I've read a couple of comments regarding what should and should not
be discussed in this forum.
Living on a Tango Island like Perth, Western Australia, I welcome the
opportunity to discuss the finer points of Tango Dancing, as there is
little opportunity to do so here. I've received personal messages,
deriding my comment on Back Steps, indicating that somehow this is not the
place to discuss such issues.
OK, admittedly, it was from an instructor who may be threatened by the idea
of someone disagreeing with them, but nonetheless, what would there be left
to talk about? I certainly don't want to bitch about other people's
dancing, and I don't find myself traveling enough to find any worth in
knowing about the change of location of a Saturday Night Milonga in Iceland.
So if it isn't Tango Dancing we're here to talk about, then what is it?
Please everybody, I'm interested in your opinions of how to dance
Tango. That's what I'm here for.
Juan Rando
The Tango Salon
Perth, Western Australia
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 11:54:35 PDT
From: Lily Ader <lilyader @HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Sunday Milonga @ Hallandale
QUERIDO TANGUEROS,
As you may already know, there has been a slight change in the scheduled
weekend performance at J. Gleason Threatre. Because there will be no
performance on Sunday nite, CITA in Hallandale will host a special Milonga
featuring the cast of the "Tango Review". There will be no regularly
schedule class. The milonga is to begin at 7:00 p.m. and the show is
scheduled to start at around 9:00 p.m. The fee is $15. for everything. The
show will be accompanied on stage by the musicians of Tango Review. They are
scheduled to stay and play the remainder of the night. However, the first
part of the milonga will be with the regular DJ music. The cast is also
planning to stay and participate in the milonga after the show. If you have
any futher question please get in touch with CITA directly as I have no
further info.
I was asked to pass this information on to the list and the tango community.
I have no financial interest in CITA and am not affiliated with them in any
way . This is simply a courtesy which I do for the tango community at large.
Furthermore, this is a special event and I hope that satisfies the list.
Thanks,
Lily Ader
P.S. anyone care to translate?
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 20:59:37 EDT
From: Marcelo Solis <MarceloTan @AOL.COM>
Subject: Argentine Dancers and Teachers
Hello List -
My partner and I toured Europe this summer. We are now in the United States
for several months. We are from Argentina. We teach Argentine tango and we
are available to give workshops, performances, private and group classes. If
you want us to come to your town to teach the argentine tango, please email
us at marcelotan @aol.com.
Marcelo Solis and Yanina Messina
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 14:12:31 -0300
From: "Ing. Leonardo G. Vazquez" <vazquez @APTO.COM.AR>
Subject: FW: Message for Tango Lovers, 20 Tangos in MP3 format for your
download FREE
Dear Tango Lovers
My name is Leonardo G. Vazquez and I am finishing a Master in International
Marketing. In order to complete this Master I am making a Thesis. This is
about "Tango Related Products/Services in Internet".
I put in Internet a survey to collect data that I need to sustain my thesis.
In order to thanks the cooperation completing the survey I put a Web page
with 20 Greats Hits of Tango in MP3 format to download. Moreover I will make
a raffle of a CD of Tango Hits. You only need to enter in the survey page,
fill the survey form (that only have 5 questions) and then you will obtain
an user and password to download the Tango MP3s (and a number for the
raffle).
Please fill my survey at:
Main page:
http://www.apto.com.ar/tango/index.htm
Only in english:
http://www.apto.com.ar/tango/english/index.htm
Only in Spanish:
http://www.apto.com.ar/tango/espanol/index.htm
I expect that you enjoy the Tangos.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely
Leonardo G. Vazquez
vazquez @cadema.com.ar
vazquez @apto.com.ar
NOTE: The information colected is NOT going to be used with commercial
purposes, this data will be used only for my thesis.
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 12:13:17 -0500
From: Phillip Washburn <phil.washburn @BIGFOOT.COM>
Subject: Re: ARGENTINE TANGO CHAMPION
Wayne R Williams wrote:
> imho the essence and quality of the tango is what transpires between
> the two people engaged in a given dance.
>
> the idea of an external observer (judge) passing judgment on the
> relative quality of a dance to determine who is the "championship
> couple" is the height of absurdity and absolutely contrary to the
> spirit of the dance. much of what transpires which adds to the
> richness and quality of the dance is invisible to the outside
> observer...
It's possible to have champions of everything imaginable. This type would be similar
to having competitions at "love affairs" or marriages, wouldn't it? Or have they
already done that? So, how would they be judged: "Our marriage is flashier and more
complex than yours, so we win"?
~~Phil Washburn
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 12:06:15 -0400
From: SERGIO <SERGIO @NCINTER.NET>
Subject: terminology
I got so much private mail on the matter that I find impossible to keep
clarifying some matters.
Here we go again.
Juan Rando from Perth, Australia wrote:
GIRO or MOLINETE
>Through time and effort I've come to my own conclusions on this. I was
taught
>originally the term MOLINETE. However, since then I've taken instruction
from
>some well reputed instructors in Argentina, who behaved as if they didn't
even
>know the term, and preferred to use GIRO. This was also encountered in
>Melbourne, when I did some workshops with the cast of Tango Passion.
>I believe that by default, a common terminology will arise, and I agree
that some
>degree of reverence should be held with the original terminology, but you
would
>be hard pressed to convince me that any consistent terminology has been
>established in Argentina yet, or anywhere else for that matter.
I agree entirely with you; this is the reason for this discussion.
You have to remember that tango eventually becomes highly improvised. You
will develop 'your own steps and figures';
as have been doing milongueros for about 130 years. In this process
different persons develop the same step to which they assign a different
name. Over the years some names remain, sometimes two names refer to the
same step or figure.
GIRO AND MOLINETE ARE EXAMPLES OF THIS. GIRO (TURN) OR EVEN VUELTA (also
TURN), are more widely used in Argentina, versus MOLINETE, more popular in
the USA. LAPIZ (PENCIL)-LAPICITO (LITTLE PENCIL)-DIBUJO (DRAWING) ALL TERMS
that describe the same action of drawing one or more circles on the floor
with the foot; is another example.
Looking for similarities in our English language we could find an enormous
number of synonyms; PIG,PORK,SWAIN, ALL terms that refer to the same animal.
I have a TANGO ENCYCLOPEDIA, but unfortunately the chapter on terminology is
very short, I am planning to check the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARGENTINE TANGO,
which has several volumes, next time I am in Buenos Aires.
HAVE GREAT MOLINETES, OR GIROS,OR VUELTAS, WITH OR WITHOUT DIBUJOS, LAPICES
OR LAPICITOS.
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 11:29:31 -0500
From: Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: TERMINOLOGY
Tango-L's two post rule prevented me from making a more timely
response to Sergio's comments of yesterday.
I think we both may have misunderstood each other's remarks.
For some reason, I thought new terminology had been invented for
teaching rather than old terms had been resucitated for use in
teaching.
Let me clarify that I was only reporting on terminology that I have
heard used by instructors who are Argentine, as an example of
terminology anarchy. It is not the terminology that I use.
Sergio is undoubtably correct that the woman's embellishment I
described can be called a "planeo", but I have only heard the use of
the term "planeo" to describe a wide arc that continues in the same
direction (typically executed by the man) while the partner
(typically the woman) walks in a grapevine.
With best regards,
Steve (de Tejas)
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 13:21:22 EDT
From: Victor Crichton <victor_vsc @HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Argentine Tango World Championships
A Brief Report On The IDO Argentine Tango World Championships
First, the good news! For the first time the IDO Argentine Tango World
Champions are from Argentina!
Yes, as hoped, Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo did participate and as
should be they won!
There were 27 couples entered of which 18 actually showed up. Basically,
the proper result should have been Fernanda and Guillermo - 1st place,
everyone else tied for 18th. There was no one else even close.
The bad news, as expected, the judges had absolutely no idea what they were
looking at. The lone exception was that Randy Pittman was added to the
panel of ballroom judges. However, one voice out of 9 or 11 doesn't effect
very much balance.
>From what I could tell, the audience was somewhat bored with most of the
performances other than Fernanda and Guillermo. They were received with
thunderous applause and an instant standing ovation to both their solo
performance and to the announcement of their victory. In short, the
audience fell in love with them and wanted to see more, much more!
The other couples were from many other countries and their dancing was truly
a mixed bag. Some were dancing a combination of true Argentine Tango mixed
with other choreography and some had no relation to Argentine Tango.
Unfortunately, most of those that were doing Tango seemed to feel that
everything had to be fast an include lots of gaunchos, kicks, jumps, lifts,
and tricks. Many only showed that they were not able to perform these
movements properly. The biggest lacking overall was that by using
pre-determined choreography to unknown music, the movements in their
performances had no relation to the music. It was definitely flash over
substance.
This being said, I must add that the overall event turned out much better
than I had expected. The ballroom dancers mostly ignored it. Only one or
two of the couples were from the ballroom world. Most of the couples were
Argentine Tango specialists from around the world that showed how different
the interpretations can be from different places.
The reception given to Fernanda and Guillermo showed the intelligence and
sophistication of the ballroom audience. Though they don't know the details
of Argentine Tango, they know and appreciate great dancing when they see it.
The judges also recognized this and rightly crowned the correct champions.
Unfortunately, they also had to select other placements and in so doing
they proved that they had no clue as how to do this.
This victory and very strong and dynamic showing by Fernanda and Guillermo
will either show the ballroom people that they might as well stay out of
this event or else next year there will be a new influx of imitators who
believe that they too can dance like that. It will be interesting to see
the future effects of this event.
Also in attendance, as a spectator, was Fabian Salas. I had a chance to
speak with him and he had some very interesting views. First, he was very
impressed with the overall event. The ballroom organizations have built
this event to huge proportions. There was TV coverage with many cameras and
interviewers and an audience estimated at 3500, Fri and Sat night are
basically sold out at about 5600. Fabian felt that this event was very good
for Argentine Tango and is something that is worth continuing to participate
in. Judging by the response to Fernanda and Guillermo, I would have to
agree. I was just imagining what atmosphere would have been created if
there had been six couples of the quality of Fernanda and Guillermo, with
different styles but all doing authentic Argentine Tango. I say six couples
because that is how many are in the final round and dance solo numbers to
their own choice of music.
I was imagining for instance couples such as Osvaldo and Lorena who are
very precise and elegant, Gavito and Marcela Durran who dance more slowly
and with great drama, Cecilia and Chicho who dance with a great sense of joy
and musicality, Daniela and Armando who personify passion, and perhaps
Eduardo Cappusi and Mariana Flores who dance with a sense of humor and a
syncopated style all their own that you have to see to believe. I'm sure
you all have couple that you've seen and been amazed by that you could add
to this group. It would really let this other world of ballroom dancers see
how diverse and wonderful Argentine Tango can be without a hint of
standardization.
Well, I started by saying this would be brief. Sorry, but when I get
started about Tango, I can certainly get carried away. If there are others
on this list that were at this event, I would love to hear your opinions as
well.
In closing, I would just like to offer my most heart felt
CONGRATULATIONS!!! to Fernanda and Guillermo, the new Argentine Tango World
Champions!
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 11:28:38 -0700
From: Michael Brooks <mbrooks @WIZARDS.COM>
Subject: AT World Championships televised?
Thank you, Victor, for the update on the Argentine Tango World
Championships. Do you have any info on which stations were there taping
and whether this will air (as the Ohio Star Ball typically does) on PBS?
Michael
Seattle, Washington
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 12:29:29 -0700
From: AisA <aisstilla @YAHOO.COM>
Subject: AT World Championships - response
A total joke. A joke on all of us who love tango.
Congratulations to the new world champions ? Do you
really think this event decided who the best dancers
are in the world ? This is like having a basketball
championship without USA included.
Also what is the importance of some clueless judges
(with your own words) judging tango ? And yet
Guillermo & Fernanda did the worse of all, accepted
the authority of the clueless judges over their
dancing.
I found the wish list to be very entertaining, having
six good couples in the finals judged by clueless
judges. Which of these pro's will participate as a
competitor, and why would any tango dancer in their
right mind accept such a judgement over their dancing
by clueless judges ? On the other hand how are the
judges to earn the clue they need to judge, in a dance
where there exists no rule that is not challenged by
one school or an other.
This is as a tango lover/dancer.
>From a commercial perspective, G & F did the right
thing by attending to an event in which they would win
and earn the first prize - easy money, and in the
process attract bunch of potential students, only to
betray the very soul of tango in return. Alas what is
a compromise of the soul anyway ?
I for one don't care what they do from now on.
I feel like dancing to a slow tango, eyes closed.
Anyone else care to join me ?
No seriously, this a call to all list participants: if
you think the way I do, voice your opinion, otherwise
next thing you know there will be regional
championships, or even regular championships instead
of milongas around...
--- Victor Crichton <victor_vsc @HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> A Brief Report On The IDO Argentine Tango World
> Championships
>
> First, the good news! For the first time the IDO
> Argentine Tango World
> Champions are from Argentina!
>
> Yes, as hoped, Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo did
> participate and as
> should be they won!
>
> There were 27 couples entered of which 18 actually
> showed up. Basically,
> the proper result should have been Fernanda and
> Guillermo - 1st place,
> everyone else tied for 18th. There was no one else
> even close.
>
> The bad news, as expected, the judges had absolutely
> no idea what they were
> looking at. The lone exception was that Randy
> Pittman was added to the
> panel of ballroom judges. However, one voice out of
> 9 or 11 doesn't effect
> very much balance.
>
> From what I could tell, the audience was somewhat
> bored with most of the
> performances other than Fernanda and Guillermo.
> They were received with
> thunderous applause and an instant standing ovation
> to both their solo
> performance and to the announcement of their
> victory. In short, the
> audience fell in love with them and wanted to see
> more, much more!
>
> The other couples were from many other countries and
> their dancing was truly
> a mixed bag. Some were dancing a combination of
> true Argentine Tango mixed
> with other choreography and some had no relation to
> Argentine Tango.
> Unfortunately, most of those that were doing Tango
> seemed to feel that
> everything had to be fast an include lots of
> gaunchos, kicks, jumps, lifts,
> and tricks. Many only showed that they were not
> able to perform these
> movements properly. The biggest lacking overall was
> that by using
> pre-determined choreography to unknown music, the
> movements in their
> performances had no relation to the music. It was
> definitely flash over
> substance.
>
> This being said, I must add that the overall event
> turned out much better
> than I had expected. The ballroom dancers mostly
> ignored it. Only one or
> two of the couples were from the ballroom world.
> Most of the couples were
> Argentine Tango specialists from around the world
> that showed how different
> the interpretations can be from different places.
>
> The reception given to Fernanda and Guillermo showed
> the intelligence and
> sophistication of the ballroom audience. Though
> they don't know the details
> of Argentine Tango, they know and appreciate great
> dancing when they see it.
> The judges also recognized this and rightly
> crowned the correct champions.
> Unfortunately, they also had to select other
> placements and in so doing
> they proved that they had no clue as how to do this.
>
> This victory and very strong and dynamic showing by
> Fernanda and Guillermo
> will either show the ballroom people that they might
> as well stay out of
> this event or else next year there will be a new
> influx of imitators who
> believe that they too can dance like that. It will
> be interesting to see
> the future effects of this event.
>
> Also in attendance, as a spectator, was Fabian
> Salas. I had a chance to
> speak with him and he had some very interesting
> views. First, he was very
> impressed with the overall event. The ballroom
> organizations have built
> this event to huge proportions. There was TV
> coverage with many cameras and
> interviewers and an audience estimated at 3500, Fri
> and Sat night are
> basically sold out at about 5600. Fabian felt that
> this event was very good
> for Argentine Tango and is something that is worth
> continuing to participate
> in. Judging by the response to Fernanda and
> Guillermo, I would have to
> agree. I was just imagining what atmosphere would
> have been created if
> there had been six couples of the quality of
> Fernanda and Guillermo, with
> different styles but all doing authentic Argentine
> Tango. I say six couples
> because that is how many are in the final round and
> dance solo numbers to
> their own choice of music.
>
> I was imagining for instance couples such as
> Osvaldo and Lorena who are
> very precise and elegant, Gavito and Marcela Durran
> who dance more slowly
> and with great drama, Cecilia and Chicho who dance
> with a great sense of joy
> and musicality, Daniela and Armando who personify
> passion, and perhaps
> Eduardo Cappusi and Mariana Flores who dance with a
> sense of humor and a
> syncopated style all their own that you have to see
> to believe. I'm sure
> you all have couple that you've seen and been amazed
> by that you could add
> to this group. It would really let this other world
> of ballroom dancers see
> how diverse and wonderful Argentine Tango can be
> without a hint of
> standardization.
>
> Well, I started by saying this would be brief.
> Sorry, but when I get
> started about Tango, I can certainly get carried
> away. If there are others
> on this list that were at this event, I would love
> to hear your opinions as
> well.
>
> In closing, I would just like to offer my most
> heart felt
> CONGRATULATIONS!!! to Fernanda and Guillermo, the
> new Argentine Tango World
> Champions!
>
>
______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at
> http://www.hotmail.com
>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 15:40:06 -0500
From: Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: AT World Championships - response
AisA wrote:
>From a commercial perspective, G & F did the right
>thing by attending to an event in which they would
>win and earn the first prize - easy money, and in the
>process attract bunch of potential students, only to
>betray the very soul of tango in return. Alas what is
>a compromise of the soul anyway ?
>I for one don't care what they do from now on.
>I feel like dancing to a slow tango, eyes closed.
>Anyone else care to join me?
Aah, to style onself as such a purist. I once bought the notion that
competitions were for ballroom dancers and outside the traditions of
Argentine tango. Imagine my surprise when I read in Nito and Elba's
biographical sketch that Nito had entered many competitions as a young
man in Argentina and won nearly all of them. A conversation that I
had with Nito during his last visit to Dallas revealed that many of
his well-known contemporaries, such as Eduardo Arquimbau, had danced
in and won many competitions.
There may be problems with an IDO sponsored competition in Argentine
tango, but if competitions themselves betray the soul of tango, its
soul was betrayed a long-time ago, and by some of its best and most
well-known practioners.
--Steve de Tejas
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 19:57:47 -0600
From: Dave Schmitz <dschmitz @MAGELLAN.TEQ.STORTEK.COM>
Subject: Howlin & Grill workshops in Colorado, 9/23-10/4
Dear list,
Tomas Howlin and Silvana Grill will be teaching
in Denver/Boulder, September 23 - October 4, 1999.
Note that this covers two weekends.
As a personal comment, during my three weeks in B.A.
this past April, I worked with them in public
classes and in private lessons. They were great
at analyzing my many flaws, and just as great at
showing me _how_ to improve.
They are also really nice people, giving encouragement
too. They're among the top several teachers I've had
for tango.
The first weekend (9/25-9/27) is aimed for experienced
dancers.
The second (10/2-10/4) is for those who have the basic
tango vocabulary.
For more info, contact organizers Pat Patton at
patp1013 @aol.com
303-650-9827
or Madhav Apte at
mapte @concentric.net
Disclaimer: NFI, though I might get some hugs
or smiles out of this.
Happy tango-ing to all,
Dave Schmitz
Denver, Colorado
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 23:53:08 EDT
From: WHITE 95 R <white95r @HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Fwd: Re: AT World Championships - response
----Original Message Follows----
From: "white95r" <white95r @hotmail.com>
To: "AisA" <aisstilla @YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: AT World Championships - response
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 17:29:30 +0100
Original Message -----
From: AisA <aisstilla @YAHOO.COM>
Snip
> No seriously, this a call to all list participants: if
> you think the way I do, voice your opinion, otherwise
> next thing you know there will be regional
> championships, or even regular championships instead
> of milongas around...
Gee, shades of the past already. The demise of tango as we know it was
already predicted when the Simards' group proposed the controversial "tango
syllabus". It looks again like there's a call to the multitude to light the
torches and march on the castle.
Steve (de Tejas) is correct in that Nito as well as many other respected and
authentic Tangueros living and dead have participated in (and won) many a
tango contest in Bs As. Dance contests are as old as dance itself. If this
means that tango is being sold out it is nothing new.
Thanks to Victor for reporting about the AT World Championship in Miami. He
reported accurately and without bias. Personally, I do not like the ballroom
dance contests and consider most of them to be nothing more than devices to
entice students into taking more and more classes. The championships that
are nationally televised do not appeal to me too much either but I'm not a
ballroom dancer or connoisseur so my opinion is just that, my opinion.
I think that propagating AT is a good thing and if this AT World
Championship achieves that it will be worth having it. If it does not, it
will do very little harm since the converted will not be swayed and the
general public will not care one way or the other.
Another poster lamented that judging tango dancing was akin to judging
marriages. I think this is a farfetched analogy even though I think that
some marriages are clearly better than others. Dancing is a form or art and
as such it can be easily judged and compared at least in a subjective
manner. To wit, the same people who decry and criticize the "show style" and
"fantasia" tango are themselves judging and condemning somebody's dancing.
Many works of art win prices and accolades. Many performances of various
genres are equally rewarded. There have been countless programs of TV and
radio where people competed for prices by performing their particular form
of self expression. Why should AT be any different? I say that these AT
World Championships will serve to bring the AT to people who otherwise would
not see it. Perhaps more people will be encouraged or attracted to AT and
that will be a good thing.
Cheers,
Manuel
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 02:28:02 -0400
From: Carlos Garces <carlosg @MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject: AT World Championships
Thanks Victor for your comments of the IDO Professional Argentine Tango
Championships. I also went to the event, though, only for a short time. =
I
did talk to several other local tangueros that were there and similar
opinions were expressed by most of them. Maybe the one issue you didn=92=
t
mention, given that your email was more a summary of the event, but, that
others constantly brought up was the fact that the organizers cut the
Argentine Tango music off in the middle of a song as they do in ballroom
competition. =20
I wanted to add to your comments that I think the judges did the best the=
y
could given that they did not have much exposure to PROFESSIONAL Argentin=
e
Tango. The caps are on purpose. Regardless of the fact that I think the
event should not have taken place if the organizers were not capable of
getting qualified judges, I would like to add the following.
I saw the evening as an event for professionals - ballroom and not
ballroom. Argentine Tango is not part of ballroom, but, the fact that AT
was introduced to a passionate ballroom crowd by Guillermo and Fernanda
made this event more positive than negative.
Of course you have ballroom professionals trying to make a few bucks from
teaching Argentine Tango, but I think that the Argentine Tango as danced =
by
Guillermo and Fernanda will not be forgotten by the professionals and
amateurs that saw them last night. The crowd went crazy. Talking to a
ballroom enthusiast he said =93I haven=92t seen this happen in years=94. =
I can=92t
confirm if this is true, but, it didn=92t happen in the other finals I sa=
w
last night.=20
I=92m hoping from this event that a few ballroom dancers will expose
themselves to Argentine Tango after what they saw last night. Most will
discover it has nothing to do with ballroom - some will eventually go bac=
k
to ballroom, a few will feel the way I feel about AT, and a few will
initiate a new Argentine Tango I will not agree with - I=92ll do my best =
to
let them know Argentine Tango is not what they=92re teaching. =20
Gracias, Guillermo and Fernanda.=20
On another note, after the lack of professional AT dancing last night, I
just got back from the Argentine Tango Review show in Miami Beach. If it
happens to take place where you live in the near future, it is worth
seeing. This is professional Argentine Tango from Argentina.
Carlos
End of TANGO-L Digest - 10 Sep 1999 to 11 Sep 1999 (#1999-2)
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