I spend over $1k a month just on Melissa's latin training. She has the best instructors money can buy. The results are evident. Competive dance is very technical. As any dance judge will tell you,...it's not what you do, but how well you do it. They would rather see a well executed, simple routine,...than a sloppy "fun" routine. (Actually, that was a rather difficult routine that the 1s placer did.) When I see a routine that is executed flawlessly,..that is entertainment for me. There is a ballet comp. in France, where the competitors all do the same choreo. If this was the case with this comp., it would be evident to all, which duo are the better dancers. I really don't wish to disect the 2nd placers...but they do not posess anything near the technical acumen that the 1st placers do. Even the first placers had some issues if you compare it to pro. level Argentinian tango show dancers. I realize it's an amature comp., but still, they should all be shooting for the same goals.
Who says they're not? That they placed first means that the judges considered them best out of the entrants, not that they're necessarily on par with professional stage tango dancers. Personally, the first placed stage dancers looked cleaner and flashier. That said, their musicality seemed lacking IMO. Lifts and kicks and tricks, oh my. zzzzzz.... The second placed dancers didn't look as strong technically (the ochos thing bothered me as well, and it didn't look as clean), but as a performance I thought it was terrific. *shrug*
That's odd, I thought the first placer's musicality was their strongest area. That is why I compared them to pro. level dancers. Watch how their bodies move/react to the music. Everything flows with, around, through, on top of, the music. I think that perhaps you are confusing musicality with artistic interpretation. Look at the clip again and you will see what I mean. Then watch the 2nders...you will see that they fall behind/get ahead at times..try to catch up, miss some of the accents, do not follow through,...and are static. If they did demonstrate better musicality, there performance would have been much better. The routine wasn't bad...it was how they danced it, that suffered. Added: ...look how Erin comes out of her turn at 1:25 and her port de bra at 1:28. This lady is a dancer. In doing some research....I think they are pro. dancers? If that's the case...then they should have been disqualified, because it was obviously an amature competition.
This is not only a fun routine, (which is what the 2nders were going for)...but it is also very technically profecient. It's a pro. routine...but I think you will get the idea. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E4mBoGX6Dw&feature=related
I got the idea the first time around, I just disagree. Regarding that clip...yeah, I'll give it props for good stage tango. It just doesn't do anything for me. I don't see musicality, I don't see chemistry between the dancers. *shrug*
I have to agree with Peaches on this one. If you want to see how good a couple is (in any dance) watch it WITHOUT the music. If it does anything for you then OK. These don't. I've also watch a lot of other videos to evaluate the quality of their movement. Like these clips, there's a lot of flash and trash but nothing else.
Angel Hi, you gots ta be kidding me. LOL (...your pulling my leg, right?). The fact that they got 2,778 ratings with a perfect score, should tell you otherwise. Even my daughter, who's not easily impressed by dance clips...was impressed. Here's another by the same dancers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egPRyeIyBPI&NR=1 ...and another. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF-sYdeKjXg You probably don't think that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were technically proficient either.
Hmmmmmm. I'm not really feeling it either. They're very flashy, but I don't see the connection or feeling there. With Fred and Ginger it was almost tangible, even when they weren't touching. Also their movements seem a little jerky.
The topic is competitions and the discussion evolved to elements of a good comp. dancer. The clips were used as examples. To quote Subliminal,..."I don't see the connection". I can almost hear Mary Murphy of SYTYCD saying..."I'm just not feeling it"....followed by booing from the audience. Connection is an element that isn't as tangible as other elements of dance...and therefore...judges may have different takes on it. I felt a strong connection in the clips. Head movements, eye contact, facial expressions, moving into your partner with a sense of want (or pushing away with a sense of unwant), are micro elements that I associate with connection. These are tangible elements...but I don't know how one would argue with..."the dancers just weren't feeling each other".
Being tango dancers ourselves, we see things the uninformed don't. Our views go beyond the superficial flashy stuff. As in your example, we're like Mary Murphy because we know what to look for. From my perspective (as an AT person), their "connection" is an act and very fake. Granted, it was a performance, but you could see right through it.
I have to say, I'm with you on Indio Manso (as well as your assessment of the dancing). If you don't love Indio Manso, then tango probably isn't for you.
I think barrefly is trying to claim that the dancers who won the competition, somehow are in the same league as professional dancers. IMO, they're not, and the video didn't help his argument at all.
:lol: I will grant you that these 2 clips are better than the one in question; the last one being their best. For their style of tango, acrobatico, the last one was enjoyable. As for the connection, though mostly not, when there, as Amps and others have stated, seems very contrived. She especially is just always flicking and kicking and swinging completely unconnected to partner, current movement. Just because they hold each other's hands, and look at each other every now and then doesn't mean that they are dancing together. I would rather see a basic walk w/ partners in tuned w/ each other and the music, than this contrived flailing around w/ intense pretense, and a little tango thrown in.
Qualifying results - VII World Championship in Buenos Aires The Tango Salon results are posted. http://www.mundialdetango.gob.ar/home09/web/es/competence/clas_salon.html Never before have so many countries been represented in the world tango competition. There were 238 couples in the qualifying rounds. Of those 65 are in the semifinals including Japan (4), Russia, Italy (2), Uruguay (2), Chile (4), Greece, Colombia (5), Portugal, USA, Spain, France, Romania, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Peru. The other countries represented were Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, Korea, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Paraguay, Bolivia, Germany, and Ecuador. The competition always weighs heavily with Argentine couples which numbered 36 of the 65 who qualified for the semifinals rounds. An Argentine couple has always won the salon category. The semifinals are Friday, August 28 beginning at 11:00am in Tango Porteno. The finals are Saturday, August 29 at Luna Park.
Watch the Tango Salon Finals on the internet http://www.tvpublica.com.ar/canal7/c7vivo.html Beginning at 19 hs. on Saturday night. Stage finals on Sunday night
correction Tango stage finals are MONDAY night beginning at 19,00 hs. Tango salon finals begin in 90 minutes.
