USA Champions for 2011 They are the USA champions who actually have an excellent chance of placing in the top ten at the World Tango Championships. Their tango is comparable to the level of Daniel Nacucchio and Cristina Sosa. They have what it takes to win--impeccable appearance and good dancing. Unfortunately, the competition launches the careers of promising Argentines who are ready to teach and perform.
I think AT competitions, particularly for "salon" category, should be organized in a totally different way. The contestants should be asked to dance with judges. They should be evaluated as individual leaders/followers rather than being evaluated as couples.
9th Campeonato de Baile de la Ciudad 2011 Last Saturday the finals of the city tango competition was held. There was a little problem. It seems that a foreign competitor from Vietnam wasn't allowed to compete and filed a discrimination suit against the city. A judge ordered the competition null and void. The city will appeal the decision. http://www.2xtango.com/?p=10563&lang=en It's no secret that the judges want to hand over the titles to Argentines who have paid their dues by working, teaching, and performing within the local organization. The couples selected to win first place in the three dances have done so. It was obvious when one of them qualified in all three dances this year; they competed last year in the world competition in stage category. They are slated by the organization for the world title. However, the results of the city's appeal will determine their fate.
NYC's USA Championship As seen in a previous post (#240), Brian Nguyen and Yuliana Basmajyan won the official USA championship which sends the USA representatives to compete in Argentina. The Festival & Championship info is here: http://www.argentinetangousa.com/ The Festival & Championship was held in New York City in previous years. This year's New York City Festival & Championship was for cash prizes. the winners were: Stage Style: Jesica Salomon & Gustavo Hornos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOGVSD9LfZI Salon Style: Gayle Madeira & Sid Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXBKK3I8zw (audio level is low on part of the recording) Sid (who appeared in the movie Mad Hot Ballroom) & Gayle announced at a subsequent performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrqlkBidthk that they had donated their winnings to Ballroom Basix, a non profit organization that teaches non competitive partner dancing to children.
Tango World Cup 2011 in Buenos Aires You can see the Tango World Cup finals even if you aren't in Buenos Aires. Last year the finals were broadcast live on local television for three hours. I'm assuming they will do the same later this month. Mark your calendars: Monday, August 29 - Salon finals Tuesday, August 30 - Stage finals 7:00pm BA Time - www.C5N.com.ar Channel 5 News in Buenos Aires
same gender competitors World Championship: Argentina, La Plata, 2nd round finals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAMK5jLBn18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiIaW4Ev-Js http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JTuMjvbe1g In 2008 a female couple, Lexa Rosean & Gayle Madeira, won the USA Championships & participated in the finals of the Argentine World championship. This is the 1st female couple I've seen in the competitions since then. Have there been others?
Tango World Cup 2011 in Buenos Aires The list of 72 Semifinalists are: http://www.2xtango.com/lista-de-los-semifinalistas-tango-salon-2011/?lang=en
Disappointed. The man lacks of body control and speed. I can do better in social milongas. Choreographies should be much better at that level.
Tango World Cup 2011 in Buenos Aires - FINALISTS http://www.2xtango.com/mundial-de-tango-2011-lista-de-los-finalistas-tango-salon/ And the USA salon champions made it to the finals. Monday, August 29 at 7:00 B.A. Time -- live on www.c5n.com.ar
2011 World Finalists: 1 couple from the USA 1 couple from Greece 1 couple from Hong Kong 1 couple from Uruguay 1 couple from Venezuela 2 couples from Korea 3 couples from Japan 5 couples from Italy 5 couples from Colombia 17 couples from Argentina
And the new world tango salon champions are from Colombia. They won the "milongueros of the world" competition two weeks ago in BsAs. They will return home with lots of pesos -- 18K for the first competition, and 30K for the world competition. Sorry that the finals were not broadcast live this year on C5N as I posted. I caught a few seconds on the internet when the Colombian couple appeared for an interview. Instead they were broadcast on WWW.TN.COM.AR where the world can view the finals of the stage couples at 7:00pm BA Time on Tuesday, August 30.
Foreign couples take the top five spots? In the Salon category, 1st: Diego Julian Nenavidez Hernandez & Natasha Agudelo Arboleda - Colombia 2nd: John Erban & Clarissa Sanchez - Venezuela 3rd: Brian Nguyen & Yuliana Basmajyan - USA 4th: Mauro Zompa & Sara Masi - Italy 5th: Cristian Andres Lopez & Naoko Tsutsumizaki - Japan
Here are a couple videos from the competition with the new champs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0dTo-aCUgM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgo4QBkFyd8
I'm confused about what the difference is between the Stage and Salon "winners" vs the 1st pair who won the "Championship"... is the "official" competition somehow different from the other two competitions? Is the official competition a mix of the finalists/winners of the two divided categories (which then seems odd that neither of the two "winning" couples won the "championship")
The official competition is different because it is sanctioned by the Office of Festivals and Central Events of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of the Autonomous City Of Buenos Aires. There actually was a representative from the government on the panel of judges, and for the rounds, they were obligated to play, among other things, the music by orchestras currently receiving support from the Ministry of Culture (the lady brought the CDs with her). "Being “official” means that Salon and Stage winning couples at the Argentine Tango USA Championship will get the Official Title of Argentine Tango USA Champions and will be the only USA authentic representatives in the Tango Buenos Aires Mundial de Baile (Tango Buenos Aires World Cup) having the right to compete directly at the semifinal round (avoiding 400 competing couples that are yearly registered in the classifying rounds)." This year, the stage part of the "official" championship did not get enough entries, so the winner couple ( Marcelo Molina and Carolina Vasquez) did not get the "official" title.
