“Our right”

I would guess it was to either the Pugliese-Morán, the D’Arienzo-Valdéz or maybe the De Angelis-Martel of type No te perdono mas on Monday night at the Edinburgh International Tango Festival that I saw the VIPs, who arrived late, join the social floor. You could tell who they were because in their first movement they carved up a good quarter of the dance floor for themselves.  Everyone cleared the inner ronda for them which they proceeded to use effectively for a demonstration within what had been a social dance.  Perhaps they found the ronda too sluggish.  Or perhaps those "rules" didn't apply to them.  I have seen some pretty outlandish stuff from from professionals in various rondas but nothing quite like that though it is true I tend to avoid going where there are professionals.  It was clear they took it as their right.  It is another reason why I prefer dancing in the afternoon at festivals - the professionals are away giving classes.  I did not stay for the show.

Where, really, is the skill in performing memorised movements with an experienced partner you know well and dancing so aggressively that everyone clears away from you? 

Professionals who dance in the ronda not taking the space of other people are the ones to watch, without mincing or showing off or the irony you sometimes see.   I like an ironic show, in fact it’s the only kind of show I really do like and I love to see quiet humour and play by couples in the ronda. But I don’t usually like irony in the ronda because it mocks the social dance that everyone is there to enjoy and where I do see that it is usually by professionals.

I like to see how professionals do in a ronda dancing between two couples of ordinary social dancers. Ideally I like to see what they do with an ordinary social dancer and to see how that person enjoys the dance. But actually any amateur dancer who dances improvised, socially, with respect for others, who can dance with different partners of varied experience and make them all feel good is to me so much more skilled.