[TANGO-L] New book about the Tango

[Rick McGarrey <rickmcg @FLASH.NET>]

Poses like the one in the picture are intended to get attention.  They impress
people who don't have much exposure to tango - which is why they put them on
the covers of books.

A friend of ours just returned from 10 days in Buenos Aires and said, "I saw a
lot of great dancing in the shows, but I wasn't too impressed with the skill
level of the dancing at the milongas."  I was a little disappointed, because he
is a prominent instructor in the U.S., and I was hoping he would shift his
teaching a little more away from performance style tango.  But after I thought
about what he said, I realized that most people would have almost the same
experience from only a week or two in BsAs.  Seeing 4 or 5 shows will expose
you to dozens of great performers, but most of the people you see dancing
socially will not be very good- especially if you go mostly to the well known
night time milongas.  It is simply percentages.  Almost everyone on stage is a
good performer, but not everyone in the milongas is a good social dancer.  Of
the many thousands who dance socially in BsAs, only a small percentage are
truly exceptional.  There may be as many or more great social dancers as there
are stage dancers, but they are often hiding among the many average social
dancers.  You need to know where to look, and, also, how to look.  They won't
stand out like the couple on the cover of the book.

By the way, the couple on the cover looks like Alejandra Arrue, and her husband
Sergio Natario.  Ironically, if that's who it is, I don't believe either one
has actually ever danced in the U.S. (I could be wrong).  Alejandra Arrue was
one of Celia Blanco's students, along with Alejandra Todaro (who only dances
socially).  Celia will tell you that both are great dancers- but to the casual
observer, Alejandra Arrue's performance tango will be noticed first every time.
 It takes a bit more knowledge and work to spot the great social dancers.