Argentine Tango competitions are usually for professionals. Then, here upcoming is Dallas Argentine Tango Jack & Jill Competition (they say 1st annual) and workshop weekend. For all social AT dancers who are not AT pros.
Many other dances have built competition systems (Ballroom, WCS, Country Western, etc), and it affects how amateurs or social dancers get involved in the dance. For WCS, we have seen transition from strongly "party dance" culture to more competition-minded culture in this past 10-15 years.
This transition is occurring, at least in part because it benefits event organizing professionals, and perhaps, competing non-professional but motivated dancers. The points and leveled systems of course come with merits and demerits. But the notion of "climbing-up-the-ladders-toward-champion" is well-ingrained in many people's minds, so it should be fine for the people. If you don't buy it, you don't have to participate. Either way, such transition is a trend.
Speaking of structured competitions, Ballroom dance is probably the "furthest ahead" dance, so we can speculate what can happen in the future. But whether social dance-originated dances like WCS or AT are going to take the same path as Ballroom remains to be seen.
In general, dance competition is a young man's game. (But it's not cheap with traveling and stuff. Such dilemma for cash-strapped poor younglings.) Older people need to find their ways of how they get involved (or not). Also, even when you are up and coming, how you get involved in a dance that you do not actively participate ("WCS dancers, do you compete in Salsa?"-kind of thing) is something you need to decide.
If you are a dance major in college (!) and working with city ballet or some other company, you may not have to get involved in amateur social dance scene at all, at least for now. Everyone's situation is different. You have to think for yourself.
BTW.
Dallas being 4 hours away, the schedule (prelims on Friday) is not exactly going to work for me, so I'm out. But tango people in Dallas area (and beyond, maybe even Austin or San Antonio) should enjoy this.
I am not sure about Oklahoma dancers. Had a chat with a few people, but they had some other business. I hope some can make it.
I read the contest rules (you can find it from the event link). Once competition is involved, people get fussy about rules and judging methods, so I was curious. The rules look quite fair to me, though.
Certainly I'd love to watch Saturday comp/finals and attend following milonga with pro shows. I'll decide later if I'd go or not.
Quoting announcement:
"We are excited to announce the 1st annual Dallas Argentine Tango Jack & Jill Competition held at Studio 22!
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You are cordially invited to join us June 2nd - 4th, 2023. The weekend will be packed with:
- Competitions
- Milongas
- World Class Judges
- Professional Performances
- Top Coaches
- Full Day of Workshops
For registration and weekend passes please visit:
https://studio22dallas.com/calendar-classes/special-events/
Some of you most be asking, What is Jack and Jill?
Jack and Jill Competition allows individuals to demonstrate their skills in spontaneous social dancing with a variety of random partners. No partners needed to compete
The weekend will be packed with competitions, milongas, world class judges, professional performances, top coaches & a full day of workshops! Competition portion of the weekend will consist of 3 categories - Tango, Vals and Milonga, where each category will have 3 winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd place).
Salon Tango Category:
1st Place: $300 ($150 Follower/ $150 Leader)
(SoCal Tango Comp Feb 22-25, 2024 Milonga Pass)
(San Antonio Tango Festival Sept 22-24, 2023
Milonga Pass)
2nd Place: $200 ($100 Follower/ $100 Leader)
3rd Place: $100 ($50 Follower/ $50 Leader)
Vals Category:
1st Place: $300 ($150 Follower/ $150 Leader)
(Boston Tango Festival- Oct 18-22, 2023)
2nd Place: $200 ($100 Follower/ $100 Leader)
3rd Place: $100 ($50 Follower/ $50 Leader)
Milonga Category:
1st Place: $300 ($150 Follower/ $150 Leader)
(Holiday Tango Weekend Milonga Pass-Dec 7-10, 2023)
2nd Place: $200 ($100 Follower/ $100 Leader)
3rd Place: $100 ($50 Follower/ $50 Leader)
Must have 10 couples on each category to get the cash prizes. Competitors must buy minimum of Milonga pass to compete.
Competitors must register by Tuesday May 27 to compete.
For more information, registration and weekend passes please visit:
https://studio22dallas.com/calendar-classes/special-events/
All Sales are non-refundable
If you have any questions please contact Jairelbhi and George Furlong via PM"
