Different dances suit different tastes. I first tried AT about 8 years ago, and just couldn't see the point of it, so I gave up. I only really started a couple of years ago - it took that long for me to realise what a great dance it was.

Surely what is raising the profile of SCD and dancing in general is the addition of the tango and show dancing – fabulous!
You need to watch it a few times to really appreciate the moves and the timing.

Indeed - although you could even say that about all dancing, to be fair. I used to hate Viennese Waltz with a fiery passion, I thought it was boring boring boring - but I've now seen a couple of VWs which were highly appealing (although Ballroom Tango's still rubbish )

I'd like to see West Coast Swing included next year, also - that's similarly a "living" dance like salsa / AT, with some great things being done in the States.

So many dances, so little time...


Without trying to be too snobby about it, AT is more of a dancer's dance - you need to be a dancer to appreciate it from just seeing it, because it's tricky to discern connection visually.

i thought their AT was good but i absolutely loved the one they did last year, i thought that was brilliant!!

Strangely I would totally disagree with that statement. I think the AT (when done well is) very in your face with its emotion and story telling.

On a slightly different tack! Seeings the the Argentinian is the original (I think) Tango... why isn't it just called THE TANGO and the others are variations?

Yeah, but AT isn't really about storytelling - I think Len was talking rubbish on Sat, him and his sweaty gauchos.

To me, AT is about intimate and personal connection - it's much more tactile than visual, at least in the social dancing scene. Even in show tango, I'm not sure that storytelling is necessarily the main element - most of the demonstrations I've seen haven't been particularly story-oriented. Which is why I think it's sometimes difficult for non-dancers to appreciate what's happening in an AT dance.


It is - in Argentina

In fact, over the past few years, even over in the UK I reckon "Tango" is now taken to be more "AT" than "ballroom Tango", as AT's got more and more popular. And shows like SCD help, of course, by raising the AT profile.

All the dances are about storytelling!!!

Ummm.... I dunno about that. Yes, all performance partner dances should have a theme, I guess.

But AT isn't fundamentally performance-oriented - at the heart of AT, I think it's about the internal connection between two people. So translating it into "show" dancing can sometimes lead to a large gap between the show and the dance style.

Whereas I feel that some dances are almost totally show-oriented - Paso, for example, it's difficult to imagine people socially dancing that - and so have less of a gap that way.

Does that make sense?

Not sure when I typed story telling I chose my words well. I see it a bit as the man trying to seduce the lady with the trying to control the feet and movement and the lady doing the flirty leg rubs and stuff! But my interest in AT is about a week old (don't get the normal tango at all) so I don't know what I'm talking about. If I even get married then the first dance will have to be AT


Yes I suppose its the same as French Fries

I think its good that SCD is promoting things like AT. My sister did Ballroom when we were younger and I wasn't interested at all (even though she wanted someone to practice with).

But as an adult I regret I didn't start Latin dancing when I was young. OK I still have no desire to do ballroom but something like SCD might have got me into Latin at a young age. Meaning now in my 30s I would be very good rather then trying to learn.

I think I'd have had a very different social life (OK I mean love life) if I had known Salsa and Bachata as a teenager

Looking again at the three AT performances, Gethin was criminally undermarked - the routine was fantastic. He didn't put a foot wrong that I could see, and it had great content. I'd have thought 38 rather than 36.

I felt he was let down by the weird strobe lighting though - plus, being brutal, that dress did Camilla no favours. But he did a great job, to me that was by far the best AT of the night.

I agree about the tango being rooted in tactility and connection.. or as Sally Potter puts it

"The tango is as complex as its own roots and as simple as the primal impulse for two human beings to move as one."

I think the AT is very hard to make look as good as it (probably) feels to dance. Look at the 2005 demo, I found Vincent & Flavia absolutely fantastic and the other 2 couples really quite boring!

But that's just me...

Interesting - I've been taught by all of those dancers except V&F, and I can confirm they're all superb dancers, and (IMO) good teachers.

I don't doubt that, but my point was it didn't translate well. Maybe it's a TV vs. live thing. Or maybe I think V&F are so fantastic no one compares!

Sorry if I offended, I didn't mean to!

"Sorry"? You don't see that word often on this forum

(No offense taken by the way )

Looking at the clip again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys0DVZASBkM

V&F start it off, and their stuff is all about the lifts up until about 0:50 - it's flashy, but it's not really very AT-esque.

They then have a nice little sequence which takes them across the floor - unfortunately the imbecilic cameraman decides to focus on their faces - there's then a nice set of boleos finishing into a volcada (lean) at around 1:23.

Giraldo and Anabella are more stationary, and the camera doesn't stay on them so continuously - but Anabella does a lovely planeo around 1:50, and their overall footwork seems both more precise and more subtle to me than V&F's.

Kicca and Pablo then have a section - and again the camera pulls away from them, God only knows why. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of this segment - she seems to go into auto-boleo mode around 2:55, and I just don't like those straight-leg motions.

But to me, V&F are doing the flashy scene-stealing lifts, and the others are doing more authentic AT dancing. It's all subjective, to a degree, but Giraldo's section is my fave.

Thanks for that analysis! I don't pretend to know anything about the AT, but to me Flavia seems the 'sharpest' of all the girls regarding footwork, and as I naturally tend to watch peoples feet that's what I find most impressive.

I've often thought that - dancing it well and with a good partner must be amazing.

I've just rediscovered Mark and Karen's AT from last year's semi final.

It's far better than any of the ATs from this series, it looked superb, was infintely stylish, and you could tell just how much fun they were having with it. I think it's even better than Vincent and Flavia's pro AT which they did on the show.

I feel Mark and Karen's AT is probably one of the best examples of just how far the standard has dropped this series. Either that or it shows just how damn good they were.

Flavia and Matt's AT was extremely flat and lacking in content compared to the above dance, which is strange as I read Flavia and Vincent helped Karen with the choreography.

Perhaps it was a case of Flavia scaling down the content to get Matt though the dance without incident.

*cough* *splutter* you WHAT?!! Blasphemy.