WARNING: Dear readers of delicate constitution: Reading this post or viewing any of the videos included in this post may cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sharp stabbing pains in the cornea, general malaise, psychological disturbances, recurring nightmares, or worse. Man Yung and Irene are not legally responsible for any damages or adverse effects that may arise. You have been forewarned. Proceed at your own discretion.
We have just received a comment from Nancy about our previous post on “Looking for Bahia Blanca”. We reproduce her comment, and our reply, as follows:
- Let me get this straight: these folks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0tDqE5SbEU
are criticizing all the above couples for their musicality and over-embellishments?
September 6, 2008 10:23 AM
Irene and Man Yung said...
Dear Nancy,
You are absolutely right, we also agree that in that video, there is a problem of synchronization in the video with the music. Whether that it is a problem with the video recording and posting process on Youtube, or whether it is a problem with our dancing - we cannot be 100% sure of either. The only ones that could be the judge of that are the people who actually witnessed that performance live at Lulu Lounge.
As for the right to criticize, have you ever been to a restaurant and had found something unacceptable about the food? Would it reasonable for the chef to respond to your complaint by saying "You have no right to complain because you are not a professional chef, you don't know what you are talking about?" We are not professionals, we are just "small potatoes", but it doesn't mean we are not entitled to our opinion. Just because someone is a "Master", it doesn't mean that everyone else not dancing at their level or with the same level of fame and power will have to censor their opinion about the said "Master" - this would be an affront to free speech. As Maria Nieves has said in an interview (this was posted by Janis Kenyon on her blog post about Maria Nieves recently): "Nobody is the owner of the truth in tango." It is always important to have a public forum for discussion, and by presenting our post as such we are opening the forum for comment on this topic (such as yours).
As for embellishments, I have as recently as last week admitted on this blog that I was once a bad an amateur adornista as any in the Tango world. I now have a problem with thinking too much about not doing adornments (instead of following). No matter whether I am here or there with respect to adornments, it is an evolving process and a process of learning for me.
The video of us dancing last August at the Amnesty International benefit was not posted by us. Perhaps it was posted by somebody who wanted to embarrass us with an example with our own horrible dancing? Anyway, we have to apologize to you, Nancy, and to any other unfortunate persons who has stumbled upon this video for any distress caused, especially if you had to run for the bathroom and wash your eyes out with soap after this trauma!
We hope that if people wish to post candid videos of our dancing on the internet in the future, they are duly warned to print a "Caution" notice beneath the video as follows: - "WARNING: Watching this video may cause psychological damage and recurring nightmares. Irene and Man Yung are not responsible for any damages arising from such action. Proceed at your own discretion."
Thank you for your comment, we look forward to more comments from you in the future!
Irene
September 6, 2008 9:13 PM
We are only aware of two unfortunate candid videos in existence on the internet in which examples of our dancing make their ominous appearance. As part of our ongoing public service “Warnings and Dangers”, we have decided to post both of them below in order for the public to have full advanced notice of such perils.
Here's the video that Nancy refers to of our Canyengue performance at the Amnesty International benefit in August of last year (Avert your eyes!):
And here's the video taken by an unsuspecting bystander of the Kensington Market open air milonga in June of this year, which unhappily includes the terrifying footage of yours truly:
No, we confess we are not the lovely couple in white performing all those death-defying awe-inspiring moves – that would be Toronto's very own Jack Gibney and Mona Paris. In this video, Man Yung is dressed in a navy polo with khakis, while Irene is wearing the blue lululemon top with the black skirt and blue shoes. You may still enjoy this video of tango on a lovely summer day in Toronto – but be warned to omit viewing of portions of the video from the times 0:46 to 1:04, 1:13 to 1:30, 1:58 to 2:12 and 2:24 to 2:40, as these portions of the video include shots of the two of us - we repeat our initial warning regarding nausea, dizziness and sharp stabbing pains etc. and once again deny responsibility for such effects in the event that you decide set your eyes on such.
We can only hope that our efforts here on advance warning will be able to prevent any trauma that may arise in the event an unprepared member of the public inadvertently stumbles on such horrifying amateur attempts at "Tango" from Man Yung and Irene while innocently surfing the internet.
ONE LAST WARNING: Now that the public is aware of what Irene and Man Yung looks like, the public is duly forewarned to avert their camcorders whenever there is even the remotest possibility that dance examples from Irene and Man Yung may be recorded and posted on the internet. Trust us, you do not want to frighten children, traumatize the healthy or perhaps even kill those with existing serious medical conditions with potentionally dangerous eyesore. YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED
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