AT Competition - How Should We Judge the Dancers

Doesn't the whole concept of trying to "judge" AT violate the essence of the dance?
All dance competitions violate the spirit of social dancing.

Dance competitions are all exercises in showing off to an external viewer, none of them are about dancing well with your partner.
 
Thanks for everyone's responding. I will not try to make comments on your posts. I learned things from them. There are a lot to be learned about AT. :)
 
Um, what is happening? Posts which quote another post are appearing above the original post, not at the end of the thread.
 
Urgh, timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly... well, I'll give it a go...
I agree but isn't that why it's called Dance Sport?
Dancesport is a different discipline to dancing.

AT is not dancesport. In fact, social dancing as a whole is not dancesport.

I'd argue that one would not do well in competition if one did not dance well with one's partner - the clutziness would be apparent.
If you're dancing in a known location, to a known track, with a known partner, it's difficult to tell if something is "dancing well with one's partner" or "has rehearsed really well".

My point was that people here write about AT being a "feeling" , a "90-second soul connection" with "no syllabus", a "philosophy of life".
I certainly don't write anything so silly. Sounds like rubbish to me.

So just because you may have read some other person or people post that sort of hippie nonsense, don't take that to mean that everyone here (or even a majority) agree with it.

Ok, fair enough, but how exactly does one judge that without reducing it to quantifiable elements like a syllabus?
As I disagree with the first proposition, the conclusion is also invalid.

It's perfectly possible to judge someone's ability at social dancing:
1/ Play an unknown track (more precisely, a track they've not rehearsed to)
2/ Get them to dance with an unknown partner

Then judge them on their performance - for example, to show if they have true musicality, or just good choreography.

See? Easy.
 
You open the lid to the box and the cat dies, yes?

That's a very interesting expression.

I guess competition is one way to give people an idea about what AT should be like.

There is another way, too. That is to dance with beginners. I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to dance with experienced leaders. Our local tango community is fortunate enough to have leaders who are willing to give some of their time to the inexperienced at the milongas.
 
...but how exactly does one judge that without reducing it to quantifiable elements

It´s all about the quality of the movement and the connection here, which is (admittedly indeed) difficult to see from the outside position.
 
DF is testing out the Source Code. Anyway...

All dance competitions violate the spirit of social dancing.

I agree but isn't that why it's called Dance Sport?

Dance competitions are all exercises in showing off to an external viewer, none of them are about dancing well with your partner.

I'd argue that one would not do well in competition if one did not dance well with one's partner - the clutziness would be apparent.

My point was that people here write about AT being a "feeling" , a "90-second soul connection" with "no syllabus", a "philosophy of life". Ok, fair enough, but how exactly does one judge that without reducing it to quantifiable elements like a syllabus? You open the lid to the box and the cat dies, yes?
 

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