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

[Robert Dodier <robert_dodier @YAHOO.COM>]

I don't see much interest in competitions in the local
tango
scene, and I think that's as it should be. Consider
this
question...

  Q. How do you know you're a good tango dancer,
anyway?

  A1. You get a prize at a competition.

  A2. When the song is over, your partner jumps up and
down
  and claps their hands.

For my part, I'm pretty sure the right answer is #2.
A dance
competition, of any kind, has to emphasize all the
external
stuff --- that's what the judges can see.  But it's
the internal
experience that gets people addicted to tango.

Competitions make sense when there is some limited
resource
and you have pick and choose who gets it --- for
instance,
there are only so many roles in "Oklahoma!" so if you
pass
the audition, you've defeated anyone who didn't get a
part.

Luckily, social dance isn't like that.  If twice as
many people
want to dance socially, there can be twice as many
"good"
dancers --- there's no limit.  I wouldn't say everyone

can be a winner; it's more like, winning and losing is
just
a distraction.

For what it's worth,
Robert Dodier


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