Sydneytango milongas
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There are now multiple persons in the  Sydney area teaching Tango.
I am concerned that many would not be accepted in even a basic Argentine Tango Competition in Buenes Aires
and worry what effect this has on dancing in Sydney.
How important is this??. 


That is a good question. You could certainly describe "Sydney Tango Teachers" in terms of their ability to dance tango and their qualification to teach. And as you have described it, some of these people could be lacking compared to an international standard, but some are not. The ratio would be very debatable depending on your point of view.

Sydney tango scene has been more of an economic enterprise by most than a community for several years and in such a context of a free market it is the buyer who decides. The buyer or average Sydney (or Australian) tango dancers I would say dancing a poor example of the Tango Liso style of dancing and as such I would say the teachers that you refer to provide a service to meet the needs of their clients.

From teachers, DJs, to community organisers to the average dancer at a milonga have all taken the Sydney tango scene to where it is today. While other tango scenes around the world have taken a very different path. Most notability the Russian tango scene. I visited it a couple of years ago and it is oblivious why Russians are now so prominent in the tango competitions around the world.

I think the problem is actually of pluralistic ignorance of the tango community. For example, you take the “Amazing tango performance by Janna Lopez and Claudio Peralta at Ivy”. It is a good example of how professionals dance. Then you consider Sydney dancers had done that before such as Jairo Rivera and Amy Teuchert dancing at salsa festivals etc. I have been confronted by the debate between stage tango and social tango for years. The affect has been that the average believe by the tango scene in Sydney is to dance plainly, to boring music on crowded floors.

If you change that believe, then the service providers would need to change to meet the new need.

And I hope we share the believe that Sydney Tango scene should be of the highest quality compared to any example from around the world. And to do that, it doesn’t start with the teachers as part of a trickly down hierarchical system of information at a cost, its not the DJs with their repetitive playlist of out of date music, its not the organisers who pamper to second rank international instructors who bleed money out of the tango scene to fund their holidays.

It comes down to the average dancer practicing at home in a wide range of activities so when they come to the milongas etc they dance well. They dance well enough that their partner enjoys themselves, the dance floor and other dancer enjoy themselves, the audience that is watching enjoys themselves. They dance well enough that the tango community actually grows.

Oh course the standard of what is good enough depends on where you are and who you are. For the 99 year old who completed in this year’s competition I say well done, for the average dancer in Sydney I say we need to do better.

how about listing the endorced teachers and venues ?

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