tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post6137169694186272844..comments2023-09-27T12:44:03.592+01:00Comments on MsHedgehog: Tips for European 'encuentros'msHedgehoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-25238561483772733382013-08-19T11:15:01.124+01:002013-08-19T11:15:01.124+01:00This is fantastic!This is fantastic!Chasehttp://bestellipticalsmachine.us/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-74861378426781893412013-08-12T22:23:40.208+01:002013-08-12T22:23:40.208+01:00@Christopher, but to address your question more di...@Christopher, but to address your question more directly, *I* would not say that it meant any of those things specifically. None of them are generally true of the actual dancers I would be dancing with at one of these events. In fact their dance is very diverse. Any one of those things might be true of one dancer or another, but overall? Of course not.<br /><br />And why would it be - there's no reason at all to limit yourself by any of those rules if you're a skilled social dancer. If you watch videos of demos by the famous milongueros you're unlikely to see them obeyed there, either. Of course you can go down a 'No True Scotsman' path. But my best guess would be that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OxyYHZTcUI" rel="nofollow">this guy</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCo0nNM3f1g" rel="nofollow">this guy</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDda9NSxofk" rel="nofollow">this guy</a> would laugh.msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-64328128754314328742013-08-12T22:05:31.934+01:002013-08-12T22:05:31.934+01:00@Christopher: what people mean by these terms is a...@Christopher: what people mean by these terms is all over the place. The only way to tell what a particular person means by it is to ask them. You can't really assume that two people ever mean the same thing, there just isn't that level of agreement on the 'facts'.<br /><br />In my own view, in as far as the word has any specific meaning when it refers to a dance rather than a person, it means a style of dancing with minimal influence from competition or exhibition styles (which obviously have quite different practical requirements - standardisation and spectacle, respectively). But a lot of people use it in different senses, often with long explanations. I personally avoid using it at all, because it's too hard to predict what the person I'm talking to will think it means.msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-73786297064024770242013-08-11T20:46:20.617+01:002013-08-11T20:46:20.617+01:00Could you help me a bit with the dance style? I ha...Could you help me a bit with the dance style? I have never really understood what people used the term "milonguero" for, it seems to me anybody means something different.<br /><br />To clarify, is it full body connection, shared axis with varying degrees of apilado, small steps, ochos more like a wiggling than pivot, in general little pivot, almost no hiros, certainly no enrosques (my understanding of milonguero)?<br /><br />Or does it include what I call "de salon" as in rather more half to three quarters body connection, separate axis, long, elegant steps, pivots, hiros, enrosques, very fluid movements?<br /><br />Thanks for your help, cheers, Christopher<br /><br /> <br />Christophernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-68737027321599227602013-08-05T10:53:09.962+01:002013-08-05T10:53:09.962+01:00@commenter, there's no such thing as a private...@commenter, there's no such thing as a private comment, if I don't publish it, it can't be responded to.msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-24030046452706602772013-08-01T20:31:18.865+01:002013-08-01T20:31:18.865+01:00About the DJs, I have heard that from several peop...About the DJs, I have heard that from several people about Italy, indeed. Apparently they have a strong preference there. I don't know of anywhere else it applies.<br /><br />And I don't think you can call that 'advertising'. It only even means anything in relation to the way the person saying it dances. It's totally uninterpretable otherwise unless they're talking about specific people you know.msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-67823499220664810182013-08-01T10:48:56.764+01:002013-08-01T10:48:56.764+01:00Re: advertising. I am not talking about websites o...Re: advertising. I am not talking about websites or Facebook, but word-of-mouth advertising, esp. to new people. A very high number of organisers and participants advertise those events as "best" or even "better than ordinary marathons". And it's not only my experience, many people I know have heard this. There is an underlying feeling of superiority, perhaps because of explicit mention of codigos and level, in the "milonguero" crowd in Europe.<br /><br />It wouldn't bother me that much if I saw any progress in the average level at such events over the course of last 3-4 years.<br /><br />Re: DJing. On encuentros I can hear systematically older music. Lots of GV, and most of the time too uniform, usually very simple, rhythmic music.<br /><br />Mind you, I am talking primarily about North of Italy, Slovenia and around. As I said earlier, I would like to be able to travel further to check out all events, but ATM it just isn't possible...<br /><br />So I'd like to add a disclaimer to my posts here - they are based on several years of observation of a particular, but still wide, subset of events, dancers and DJs in central Europe.G.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-43851282562300292922013-07-31T20:17:15.100+01:002013-07-31T20:17:15.100+01:00@G; it also strikes me that the one thing I have N...@G; it also strikes me that the one thing I have NEVER seen ANY encuentro advertised as, is "higher level than ordinary marathons". They don't mention marathons except to say that they're not marathons, and they never mention 'level' in the advertising at all.<br /><br />That might be something that other people say about them, but it never occurs in the actual publicity for the event. So in that case, I think you're just wrong. Can you link to an example, please.msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-73832486966015742842013-07-31T20:14:05.143+01:002013-07-31T20:14:05.143+01:00@G, thanks for your comments. I have no problem li...@G, thanks for your comments. I have no problem limiting myself to things I actually enjoy, I don't feel a duty to please other people by doing things that bore me, so perhaps someone who likes the marathon format can provide an equivalent write-up for that. Your remark about the DJs is not at all true of most of the ones I have attended (I can think of two possible exceptions) there's nearly always been substantial disagreement about each DJ individually and on which one people liked best. (Although admittedly none of them played non-tango music or non-dance music, so a person who defined 'different' in those terms would disagree). Flexibility is obviously useful to any professional DJ, but irrelevant to any one specific event. As for good dancing, there is insufficient agreement about what that means, for an opinion either way to be much help to anyone who doesn't know the opiner quite well.msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-39182682957962082472013-07-31T14:19:42.373+01:002013-07-31T14:19:42.373+01:00Very nice and objective summary! I'd like to a...Very nice and objective summary! I'd like to add my 2 cents.<br /><br />Such events are often advertised as "higher level than ordinary marathons" with explicit mention of the BsAs norms as you wrote. This is supposed to guarantee the participant a better experience.<br /><br />Having attended both types of events, as well as large festivals, I must say that, on the average, the level is usually higher elsewhere as is the respect for the "codigos". Also, at most of these events, there are 5-6 identical DJs. All the time. Some of them ok, some bad.<br /><br />In my somewhat limited experience (cant' travel very much or very far), the best DJs there were the ones who play music in a variety of events (= more adaptability) just as the best dancers there are the ones who don't limit themselves to several identical ecuentros every year.<br /><br />I.e. I wouldn't suggest to anyone to focus *only* on encuentros, as people do, but rather try them out in order to see another nice place, to visit friends or enjoy a nice tango holiday. Some encuentros really do feature amazing locations and some good DJs. Ask around, that would be my primary advice; and find out yourself where you enjoy the most.<br /><br />Personally, I can absolutely recommend Raduno Rural in Slovenia, organised by Blaz Demsar. A must-see, in every sense.G.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-21618867195257100152013-07-30T20:18:08.764+01:002013-07-30T20:18:08.764+01:00@Iain, yay! I hope you will be well prepared and h...@Iain, yay! I hope you will be well prepared and have a blast :)msHedgehoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05719152265628932122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391293127288856260.post-49101625854469701752013-07-30T04:13:20.338+01:002013-07-30T04:13:20.338+01:00Thanks - I've just booked onto my first encuen...Thanks - I've just booked onto my first encuentro next January, so this is all very interesting information. Iainnoreply@blogger.com