Argentine Tango

Following a brief historical introduction to the tango, dancers Alberto Toledano and Loreen Arbus offer a step-by-step introduction to learning the tango. Toledano and Arbus do a demonstration dance, and then break the dance down into its component parts, showing viewers the simple (La Cruzada--the walk) and the more complex (La Media Vuelta Con Ochos Por Detras--the half turn with reversed ochos). While the dancing is excellent, the producers have made a few poor choices in the filming. First, there is a low audio hum present throughout. Second, the dance floor is poorly lit, a problem compounded by the fact that the dancers dance against a black curtain background, and sometimes wear black. Finally, at one point Arbus wears a red dress (and the lower quality video results in the expected color bleeding). Although the technical drawbacks are not so uniformly bad they eclipse the instruction--which is very good--they do make for a less than optimum instructional video. An optional purchase. (Available from: Tanguero Productions, 8841 Appian Way, Los Angeles, CA 90046; (213) 656-1207.)