There is a point of view that NYC's, and much of Europe's too, idea of Salon is rather more flamboyant than in Buenos Aires, largely because of the influence of show tango and Nuevo teaching for social dancing. That's a reasonable observation, but isn't necessarily the most appropriate way to dance on a social floor. In the competitions they certainly are not being asked to dance in typical milonga conditions. However JanTango has previously commented that the older traditional milonguero pairings don't now get a look in indicates perhaps that the more visual styles are in the ascendancy. Your videos appear to confirm that. I'm afraid I regard their bravado as misplaced. I might have said I feared for the consequential damage to tango but this change to a more visual larger style is a result of teaching and the damage is already done. In the final analysis, in a competition they are all performing.
4th USA Tango Championship - NYC 4th USA Tango Championship 2010 Open Salon Finals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnkBrZfsyRk Open Salon 1st place winners - 141 Yuliana Basmajyan& Brian Nguyen Armenia/USA [yt][/<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PnkBrZfsyRk&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PnkBrZfsyRk&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>YT]
Spain's National Tango championship 2010 Spain 2010 Tango Escenario (Stage tango) Final winners Patxi & Toya: Zorro Gris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0OEh6uoqnQ Tango Salon: Semifinals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89CI-ZBnrHU Finals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W1AM3XX4_A Winners - #7 Antonia Olmos y Mariano Cañeque website http://tangocampeonatonacional.com/
Montevideo - Uruguay 2010 Montevideo - considered by some to be where one of the roots of Tango was located: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNaUSIwuJnU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujMYr6TBD54&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6673Aas4dM&feature=related
Argentina's Provincial & Metropolitan competitions Argentina: subsite - La Pampa Salon Tango champs Pedro Soria y Marina Gonzalez dance in finals to "Indio Manso" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKiebdYPDos&feature=related Salon Tango Championship dance off to "Tu El Cielo y Tu" and "Pensalo Bien" in Puerto Madryn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHPKqZwPk_s 1st place #4 Franco Gaspar Amado & Ivana Moreyra Tucuman Tango Salon Finals - dance off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Ugmui2oKw Martin Concha & Paola Ortiz vs. Luis Canseco & Gabriela dos Santos Bs. As. - La Viruta Prelims "tres Esquinas" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIIZzv9alrg
Tango World Cup 2010 in Buenos Aires Campeonato Mundial de Baile de Tango - Tango de Salon: Qualifying rounds - Monday, Aug 23 and Tuesday, Aug 24 in La Trastienda (San Telmo) Those who pass the qualifying rounds and winners of regional/national competitions dance in the semifinal found on Saturday, August 28 at Teatro Coliseo. Salon Tango finals will be held on Monday, August 30 beginning at 7:00pm in Luna Park. Stage finals are Tuesday, August 31 at 7:00pm. The finals may be televised so I suggest checking www.tvpublica.com.ar/tvpublica or one of the news channels for live coverage. California is BA time minus 4 hours; London is BA time plus 4 hours. I didn't wait in line for five hours to get a ticket for Luna Park, so I'll be watching the finals if they are broadcast.
CNN's Spanish language broadcast: line for the finals -100 kilometers! Free tango classes, conferences, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQDRRTrdO3Q ITN's English language broadcast: camera catches "old school" milongueros http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtTw-OxkE-0&feature=player_embedded
The ITN clip shows Pocho y Nely, then El Flaco Dany. At the very end is Julio Duplaa with Natacha Poberaj. I prefer to call them milongueros viejos, not because of age but years on the dance floors rather than "old school." The street and the milonga were their only schools for tango.
Semifinalists for tango world cup 2010 http://www.2xtango.com/?p=6769 has the list of semifinalists in Tango de Salon category. All couples who made the cut to the semifinal rounds to be held on August 28 are under 45, including many professionals who would like to add a title to their resume and put 20,000 pesos in their pockets. It's clear that the judges don't want to see any over-50 dancers in the competition let alone those who have danced together for 50 years like Olga Albasetti and Francisco Allo from Avellaneda who were eliminated after the qualifying rounds. They will be competing in an unpublicized tango competition in Avellaneda for senior couples on September 15. Frank Obregon and Jenny Gil from Venezuela are making their living as professionals in tango houses in Buenos Aires. They are not new to competition: http://www.frankyjenny.com.ar/frankyjenny.php They have paid their dues and according to the ficitious scores are placed first going into the semifinals. They are a familiar couple to the judges who "choose" the winners. Obregon and Gil dance choreography when they perform on stage and in the milongas. I have seen them in exhibition at Salon Canning. They don't know how to improvise tango and only dance choreography. It would seem more appropriate for them to be in the stage tango category. This is sending the wrong message to competitors and to the tango world in general: TANGO IS A CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE RATHER THAN AN IMPROVISED ONE WITH FEELING. #33 are Otto Honeker and Virginia Pandolfi. He has competed before; she is/was Fabian Peralta's teaching/performing partner. Peralta was given the world title a few years ago with Natacha Poberaj. Do you think the judges know Virginia? #60 - The Frasers from Germany have competed other years and placed in the top ten. #10 - The only couple representing the USA -- a politically correct decision by the judges. Last year's champions from Tokyo, Japan generated more interest among foreigners to enter the competition. That's the point of the competition -- for foreigners to spend their money in Buenos Aires.
It might be more flamboyant in other parts of the world but there is also a quest of the Flamboyance in Buenos Aires. I remember a line in an interview of Daniel Nacucchio y Cristina Sosa, several times winners of tango competitions. "We changed the embrace one thousand times". That is, until they found the one that had the best visual impact.
Hmmm... It takes month to prepare a choreography. They would need to know, three months before the comp, which music will be played. This seems unlikely, if only because no argentine organizer can announce something three months before.
Obregon and Gil have danced together for years making choreographies for stage and exhibition. They will use sequences from their choreographies during the salon tango competition to whatever music is played during the rounds. They are "programmed."
Oh I wouldn't dispute that at all. After all it's the argentinians themselves who have promoted tango with shows and the performers who have taught the foreigners while on tour. Nevertheless you help make my point for me that competitions promote tango to watch. And that judging can only be visual so competitors adjust their style accordingly. And as this thread is all about a competition promoted by BsAs with the finals in the city how can this be doubted. As for Daniel Nacucchio y Cristina Sosa here is what jantango has commented on LimerickTango's blog about a performance of theirs at Salon Canning: This is a good example of how tango as a social dance for average people has become an exhibition dance to promote teachers and champions. The performances are choreographed and not meant for the social floor. They include more figures in one dance than one needs for a tanda. Dancers need to see good examples of social dancing in order to learn it. These exhibitions are only marketing a crop of trained dancers who never go to the milongas to dance with others. The true test for a dancer is to dance with a stranger and improvise in the moment. And I see no reason to add anything to that.
Finals of the Tango World Championship via internet www.c5nenvivo.com.ar will have a live broadcast. Monday, August 30 at 19 hs. BA time to watch the finals of the salon category from Luna Park. Leopoldo Federico and his orchestra will perform. Miguel Angel Zotto and Daiana Guspero will dance. Tuesday, August 31 at 19 hs. BA time for the finals of the stage competition. Maria Nieves will be the honored artist for the night. Susana Rinaldi and Osvaldo Piro will perform with Orquesta Escuela del Tango. Both nights will run at least four hours, if not longer.
Finalists for the World Tango Championship (tango salon) 2010 The list is published here http://www.2xtango.com/?p=6861 There are 37 couples in the finals, 19 represent Argentina. One surprise is couple #27 Ricardo Sotelo and Norma Fernandez Chavez, both over 60 years of age. They placed in one of the regional competitions giving them direct entry to the semifinal rounds. Even the senior champions of this year's city competition did not make the cut to the finals. Sotelo and Chavez compete every year and have placed in the top ten. Another is couple #9 Santiago Croce and Amy Brooke Lincoln who placed in the north zone competition. She is from the USA. The biggest surprise is the couple representing the USA from Los Angeles has made the finals. The finals can be viewed on Monday at www.c5nenvivo.com.ar beginning at 7pm BA time.
Argentina's World Championships 2010 - stage semi Argentina's World Championships 2010 Stage Tango semi-finals Cristian Correa & Manuela Rossi perform to "CAFE DOMINGUEZ" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVDhSjCDN8U
Argentina's World Championships 2010 - stage semi Argentina's World Championships 2010 Stage Tango semi-finals ENRIQUE OSVALDO PEREYRA & LORENA JACKELINA CHIRINO perform to "NEGRACHA" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs48HlE0UpQ JUAN CARLOS MARTINEZ Y NORA WITANOWSKY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr3X4DZ6OI Carolina Leonardelli & Gabriel Salvi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOSS9Ljcop0
Argentina's World Championships 2010 - salon semi Argentina's World Championships 2010 Salon Tango semi-finals Danced to "Tormenta", "Inspiracion" & "Comparsa Criolla" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=759H8k55aLA 348. Brian Nguyen y Yuliana Basmajyan from Los Angeles USA dance in front of the judge's table @ 1.07
