[Tango-L] IV Campeonato Metropolitano de Baile de Tango

[Janis Kenyon]

More than 500 couples competed in the qualifying rounds for tango and 300
for milonga during May.  Those selected by the judges and by popular vote
qualified for the four semifinal rounds in June.  In order to attend a
semifinal round (June 11, 14, 18 and 21), you have to go to the Tangodata
desk in the Centro Cultural San Martin at Sarmiento 1551 to obtain a free
ticket the day of the semifinal.  Two tickets are allowed per person.  I
arrived at 11:20 Sunday morning when there were fifteen people in line
waiting.  The tickets were supposed to be handed out beginning at noon, but
the woman in charge didn't arrive until several minutes after 12pm, and
people were getting impatient.  At noon eighty people were in line waiting
to obtain tickets.  I saw the second woman in line receive a total of six
tickets.  The woman handing out tickets asked me how many I wanted, although
I knew that I was allowed no more than two; I asked for two.  I have no
doubt that all the 300 tickets available to the public were gone by 1:00pm.

The semifinal rounds are announced to begin at 8:00pm in Nuevo Salon La
Argentina on Bartolome Mitre and Callao, where the milonga El Arranque is
held four days a week.  I was in line around 6:30pm with thirty people ahead
of me.  There is seating for 400, but a limited number of tables on the
floor to see the dancers.  The doors opened at 7:30.  Only ten people at a
time were allowed to enter at a time now that the city has new safety
regulations.  No one wanted to wait to be seated, so there was a scramble
for the best tables.

The competition began at 8:30pm.  The judges were Gabriel Misse, Alejandro
Suaya, Carlos Perez, Ana Maria Schapira, and Maria Nieves.  There were three
rounds of nine dancers for milonga and tango.  Each group danced three
milongas or tangos with different music for each round.   The music was at
least danceable, however, friends who competed in milonga didn't care for
the music.  When I told them that the person in charge of the music
selections for the campeonato believes that the dancers don't need to know
the music in order to dance, they strongly disagreed.  Several couples
competed in the milonga and tango rounds.

The judges scores were calculated and the finalists were announced around
12:00am.  Approximately eight couples from the three rounds for milonga and
tango will be going on to the finals on August 17 in La Rural.  Two couples
qualified in both tango and milonga.  The winners for tango receive $3,000;
and $2,000 for milonga.

Jorge De Gouvea and Irma Barrientos qualified in the milonga division.  They
have been dance partners for ten years.  Jorge has been dancing tango for
more than fifty years.  He demonstrates what milonga con traspie is all
about.  They glide across the floor.  It's a pleasure to watch them.  The
same goes for Tony and Noemi who qualified for finals of tango and milonga.
They have many years in the milongas.  Cherie Magnus of Los Angeles and her
partner Ruben are going to the finals of tango.  She's the first foreigner I
know who has made it to the finals in the city competition.