Which said, remember: "qualifiers." The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals are centralized in a way that the qualifiers are not, so there may be more planning behind the music. There is wording in the legal document about "The Organization" picking pieces and letting couples know about them. The timeline for that seems to be "in the weeks between the qualifiers and the competition in BA."
Still, that timeline is short enough that even talented couples would be hard-pressed to develop and perfect choreographies at the competition-winning level for a potential nine pieces (three for the quarter-final, three for the semi-final, three for the final) . . . It's a month, give or take, and a polished, potentially award-winning choreo to just one piece can take that long or longer! This is why escenario couples – who do choreograph – dance one piece of their choice, not three of "The Organization's" choices.
Granted, experienced couples have choreos to lots of pieces in their pocket, and the pieces selected for the competition are pulled from a small subset of danceable music that's considered "typical" and "classic," so veterans might be able to whip out an old choreo at short notice. I suppose that would give such couples an advantage of some kind.
But I've seen local couples dance to a piece at the qualifiers and then again in the competition in BA, and it's self-evidently not the same interpretation, so I don't think it's a choreo.
All of which said, remember also that winners do performances at the event as well as compete. Things like victory rounds and whatnot are probably choreographed. And often, it's that and not competition rondas that ones sees in videos. I've seen a few where the top few couples were clearly putting on a choreographed show with their competition numbers still pinned to their backs.
). The music is traditional tango. The couples are not allowed to break the embrace during the song. Certain stage tango figures are prohibited as unsuitable for the pista. Max two steps allowed to be walked backwards.
