425  The Festival Buenos Aires Tango begins

Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 16:09:50 -0300
From: Janis Kenyon <jantango@FEEDBACK.NET.AR>
Subject: The Festival Buenos Aires Tango begins

The IV Festival Buenos Aires Tango opened last night at Centro Cultural del
Sur. The festival organizers decided to hold the three zone finals of the
tango championship in the same location on three consecutive Fridays. The
Central-South zone competition was held last night.

The brochure states that tickets are free--two to each person--and available
from 10am. I went to get two tickets at noon because the center is only ten
blocks from my apartment. The ticket allows you to enter early for priority
seating, but the crowds lined up outside at 8pm were not turned away by any
means. I was told that tickets were given out for control. When I arrived
15 minutes before the scheduled start, all of the 400? seats were already
occupied. I estimated the attendance to be about 1,000. This was not a
problem because the stage and seating were set up outdoors. The summer
weather was unseasonably cool (60F) with a breeze to justify a coat--unusual
for BsAs in February which is normally very hot.

It didn't matter where you were standing or seated to see the program. It
was a four-camera production with a large elevated video screen to view
everything. The sound system was excellent. The city put on a first-class
production for everyone to enjoy.

There were 80 couples competing in the first round of finals last night.
The judges were Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, Rodolfo and Gloria Dinzel, and
Carlos Rivarola, all members of the Association of Teachers, Dancers and
Choreographers of Argentine Tango and original cast members of the show
which introduced tango to the world--Tango Argentino. The judging criteria
was el compas (beat), la cadencia (cadence, rhythm) el estilo (style), el
abrazo continuo (continuous embrace), la circulacion por la pista
(circulating around the floor), and el baile al piso (dancing on the floor).

Ten couples danced in each heat to a tango of Carlos Di Sarli and Osvaldo
Pugliese. The tangos they would be dancing to were announced as they were
to begin. Style and elegance were being judged. All the dancing was
completed within an hour. I enjoyed watching many of the couples I know
from the milongas. There were couples of all ages.

We were treated to an oustanding performance by Sexteto Major (the ensemble
which toured the world with Tango Argentino from 1983) and Orquesta Escuela
de Tango directed by Emilio Balcarce. There were performances by Gloria and
Eduardo and dancers from their company.

Each couple in tango has their own style. I found it most interesting to
see how a variety of couples used the stage. The younger, less experienced
dancers did not circulate around the floor as well as those who are
long-time regulars in the milongas. The couples included new dancers in
their 20s and 30s, good social dancers in their 40s and 50s as well as
several milongueros in their 60s and 70s. The judges had to select three
couples from the 80 who will compete in the World Tango Championship to be
held in Buenos Aires, July 23-27, 2002.

Around midnight, the three winning couples were announced. My favorite
couple was Clemente Blas and Graciela Lopez (gralopez@ciudad.com.ar ) They
are regulars at the afternoon milongas, and Graciela writes a monthly
article for B.A. Tango--Buenos Aires Tango. Clemente was the most
experienced male dancer among the winning couples. The second couple were
good social dancers in their 40s.

The youngest of the three winning couples (probably in their 20s or 30s)
generated some controversy among a few members of the audience. It seems
that the woman has performed in Europe, but that doesn't necessarily she
makes her living as a professional stage dancer. Professional stage dancers
were strictly prohibited from participating. No one has challenged the
judges' decision. The rules state they are final. We won't be seeing any
investigation of judging such as that being done by the International
Olympic Committee with the International Skating Union over the gold medal
awarded to the Russian couple with technical errors. The young tango couple
did not keep their feet on the floor nor did they dance in a continuous
embrace. We all know it's impossible to watch ten couples dancing at the
same time.

The three winning couples danced to La Cumparsita (D'Arienzo arrangement)
performed by Orquesta Escuela de Tango. We congratulated our favorite
couple Clemente and Graciela. I showed them the recording I made of them
that night.

Friday, February 22 the West Zone finals will be held. Horacio Salgan and
Nestor Marconi will be on the program along with Orquesta Escuela de Tango
and Orquesta Beba Pugliese.

Pichi de Buenos Aires