The best of Cosmo Tango (2004)

Rating:
Summary: Excellence
Review: I have purchased CosmoTango DVDs for the past 3 years and found them to be excellent. This version has many new dancers, but also many "old" dancers (from previous years) with new choreographies. Majority of the dancers have continued to improve and impress. As the art of Argentine Tango becomes more and more popular around the world, it is very nice to see what the top dancers in the world look like and what excellence is all about.



Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I loved the earlier 2002 DVD, but this version (2004)was uninspiring. Fabian Salas (who produced this DVD) opens the show. He's changed his tango style. This time he stands still a lot, while his partner tries to make him look good. Other performances are dull; performers who were wonderful in the 2002 DVD were a disappointment in this DVD. I suggest buying the 2002 version. This DVD is not worth the price!

Rating:
Summary: Nuevo Tango is my thing
Review: This DVD has two theater shows (one on each side of the DVD) and a few extra performances in a dance club setting. There is about 3 hours in total of Argentine Tango dancing in its many styles, including the Traditional, Stage, and Nuevo. I absolutely love the Traditional style, especially when it's being performed by Osvaldo Zotto and Lorena Ermocida in this video. I also enjoy many of the Stage performances. But who really stand out to me are the Nuevo Tango masters - Fabian Salas & Carolina Del Rivero and Chicho Frumboli & Eugenia Parilla. There are several others, for sure, and they are fantastic also and well worth the price of watching, but these two couples are the stars in my eyes. One must understand that when these couples are dancing, on stage or on a dance floor, every step and every move is led by the man. There is very little "posing" in their dancing. Their choreographies fit the music extraordinarily well, whether the music is traditional or nuevo tango. Their movements are almost always original and surprising, and their technique is at the top of the game. Nuevo tango is advancing every year, and this DVD has more talented couples from Buenos Aires than in previous editions and that is very much to my liking.