[Tango-L] Style wars (previously Fw: Tete)

[Victor Bennetts]

Astrid>The pro dancers that I like all have a very firm base in dancing at
>milongas, and still look way better than Tete, IMO

I agree Astrid, Balmaceda is a brilliant dancer and teacher for that matter. I don't need to look at a video of him because I have taken lessons from him and watched him dance in person. I have also watched Tete dance in person at a number of Milongas and in my opinion at least he looks pretty impressive. Also, I think with guys like him there is a lot going on that you can't see, that is just there for the follower. Basically imho they are both good dancers with different strengths and possibly styles, but I am not sure style is so important. I am not really wedded to a particular style, I just like anything that feels nice to a follower and is appropriate to social dancing conditions. Many of the very best social dancers I saw in BsAs (and out of it for that matter) aren't famous or well known and you won't find their videos on youtube. They are just average guys who dance week in, week out and have done for years because they love social dancing, but don't perform or teach.

There is one further point to make. If you ask the pros how they learnt to dance in the first place, they will probably tell you that all the top professional dancers around today learnt a lot of what they know by observing the old guys who have (or had) been socially dancing for decades. I never asked Balmaceda that question, but I got that from Cecilia Gonzales, so I think she is an authoritative source. Whether the old guys make good teachers is a different issue on which I can't comment as I have never taken a class from one of them. But I do think any record of their dancing is tango gold that should be treasured and studied. I don't know if they are 'masters', but they are what they are.

Victor Bennetts

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