[Tango-L] IV Campeonato Mundial de Baile de Tango -- 35 finalists in Tango Salon

[Janis Kenyon]

The semifinal rounds had 108 couples representing 17 foreign countries and
Argentina.  There are 35 couples in the finals will take place tomorrow
night.  Of those 35 couples, only FOUR foreign countries are
represented--Germany (2), Colombia (4), Italy (4) and Russia (1).
http://www.mundialdetango.gov.ar/tango_salon.php

The semifinal judges on Tuesday night were Gabriel Misse, Julio Balmaceda,
Olga Besio, Carlos Perez, Gachi Fernandez, and Juan Manuel Fernandez.

Each couple is introduced as they enter the stage along with the country
they represent in the competition.  The announcer has been doing an
excellent job of pronouncing all the foreign names of competitors.

Russia has a relatively new tango community, so it was quite an achievement
for one of the three Russian couples to be selected for the finals.  Daria
Nikolaeva and Andrey Panferov are here for the first time.  This tall and
elegant couple are worthy of being among the top ten finalists, if not the
winners of the competition.  They don't do anything fancy--they dance to the
music and follow all the rules.

The two German couples have competed before, and each has placed in the top
ten during the last two years.  They don't bother in Germany having a
pre-championship, so the two couples come on their own.  One of the Italian
couples placed 7th last year in the finals.

It was no surprise to see Poberaj & Peralta and Copello & Blanca among the
finalists in tango salon.  The judges missed Blanca's high voleos which are
prohibited in tango salon.  Both couples are well connected with the judges.
If the judges were observing the two-bar rule, they would have been
eliminated for staying too long in the same spot on the floor and doing
choreography.  Copello & Blanca dance like they should be in the stage
category rather than tango salon.

The ticket office at La Rural opens Saturday morning at 10am.  People will
go hours early to wait in line for two free entradas for the evening
competition.