The World Tango Dance Championship is an international competition among dancers of the Argentine-Uruguayan tango dance, held annually since 2003, during the month of August, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It features two categories: tango stage and tango track. The championship takes place as part of the Buenos Aires Tango Festival and World Championship event. In the 2013 edition, 550,000 people attended, and 556 couples from 37 countries competed, selected in pre-qualifying rounds held in various parts of the world.
When is the World Tango Dance Championship held in Buenos Aires? The World Tango Dance Championship is held annually in Buenos Aires during the month of August and is part of the cultural event Buenos Aires Tango Festival and World Dance Championship, which lasts for two weeks.
The Championship has been held since 2003 and was an initiative of the management of Aníbal Ibarra, Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires at the time.1 In the 2013 edition, 550,000 people attended, and 556 couples from 37 countries competed, selected in pre-qualifying rounds held in various parts of the world. Participation is free and open to amateurs and professionals.
How does the competition unfold?
Dancers represent cities or countries and can register free of charge without any professionalism requirement. The regulations do not establish any restrictions regarding the gender of the dancers, nor the composition of the couples. The competition consists of three stages: qualifying, semifinals, and the final.
The World Championship has a pre-qualifying stage with venues in various parts of the world. In 2013, pre-qualifying competitions were held in the United States (San Francisco), Italy (Terracina), Russia (Moscow), China (Beijing), Chile (Chillán), and Uruguay (Montevideo). Competitors emerge from these pre-qualifying rounds and from pre-qualifying venues located in all Argentine provinces.
The semifinals are held at official Championship subsites, and the selected couples represent each of these venues. In the semifinal stage, the couples representing the City of Buenos Aires are those who have obtained between second and fifth place in the Buenos Aires Dance Championship and first place in the Milongueros del Mundo category of the same tournament. The winning couples of the Buenos Aires Championship and the European Tango Championship go directly to the final.
The jury, in both categories, consists of five members in the qualifying stages, six members in the semifinals, and seven members in the final. Each member individually scores from one to ten, and then an average score is established, which is the final rating. In each category, a winning couple is determined, as well as second and third places. The prize for the winning couple was 40,000 Argentine pesos in 2013 (equivalent to 8,000 US dollars).
The competitions are held in two categories: tango de pista (tango for the dance floor) and tango escenario (stage tango). The finals of each category take place on the last Saturday and Sunday of the festival, respectively. 40 couples reach the final stage in the tango de pista category, and 20 couples reach the final stage in the tango escenario category.
Categories: Tango de Pista and Tango Escenario
Tango de Pista (formerly known as salon tango) is performed in groups of 10 couples dancing simultaneously, without choosing the music. The couples must be arranged in a circle and rotate counterclockwise. The competition consists of four rounds with three songs danced per round. 40 couples reach the final stage of the championship.
This modality aims to respect the essential characteristics of tango dance and establishes stricter choreographic rules than the tango escenario modality:
The embrace cannot be broken during the music, with the embrace understood as one dancer always being “contained” by the embrace of the other member, in an elastic sense; Jumps are prohibited; Clothing is not taken into account for qualification.
By regulation, the jury is obliged to mainly consider “musicality, connection between the couple, and elegance in movement.” In this modality, improvisation and the use of popular choreographic figures (cuts, breaks, runs, sweeps, floor takeouts, twists, etc.) are fundamental.
Tango Escenario is performed with couples dancing solo and choosing their music. Each couple dances for four minutes. It is characterized by the choreographic and dramatic display of each pair. 20 couples reach the final stage.
This modality, unlike tango de pista, seeks choreographic freedom and the expression of the multiple variations with which tango dance is presented worldwide, but without losing identity:
Breaking the embrace is allowed, but the regulation also warns that it must have “a reason for being and (be performed) for the benefit of the presentation”; Jumps and the use of resources from other dances are allowed, but they should not exceed one-third of the presentation time; The choreography must include “the classic figures of tango: eights, turns, long walks, volleys, hooks, and the ‘milonguero embrace'”; Clothing may be a point of evaluation.
2024 & 2025 World Tango Dance Championship edition
The new edition of the World Tango Dance Championship will take place in August 2024. The date for the year 2025 has not yet been defined.
