Tango, go, go

I spent the afternoon at the Rural Hall in Plaza Italia watching Tango. The World Championships are on at the moment and everyone is dancing. L and I went to see the Salon Tango qualifiers. Salon tango is the kind that everyone does, the kind you see in milongas and the kind L and I tried to learn. There were 250 qualifiers from all over the world and this was the dance-off for a place in the semi-finals.

I have to admit it was freezing cold in the hall but we were lucky because we managed to get seats right at the very front so there were no heads between us and the stage. However, the minute either of us stirred in our seats, someone was there ready to take our place.

Despite this L and I watched 12 rounds, each with 11 pairs. I took a fair few photos but the lighting was low and the dancers were in constant motion which is demonstrated by the photos (now uploaded to flickr). One of the things I love about tango is that it is inclusive. There were couples who looked about 18 years old and others that looked 80 years old. There were tall people and short people, fat people and thin people, men taller than women and women taller than men.

I also did something new with my little digital camera - I took a couple of short videos. I've uploaded them to google video and you should be able to watch them by clicking here:


and here:


Hope you enjoy them.