Do you recall in last season’s off season when PureDWTS reader Carlos Lustosa updated us on Dancing With The Stars in Argentina? He kept us up to speed on Pamela Anderson and Damian Whitewood’s dancing. He also introduced us to some of the other cool dance talents at the time which you can read about here again if you like. Now Carlos is back to give us more fun updates on Dancing With The Stars in Argentina which is continueing to stun audiences. Note the differences in how they do Dancing With The Stars in Argentina versus how they do the show in the United States. You’ll also notice they get a little more …uhhh “risque” (is this a good word to describe? ) in their dancing. It’s quite interesting and Carlos has this special way of taking us up, close, and personal. Enjoy and be sure to watch all the videos he’s attached. If you are like myself, it will be well worth your time especially if you are a lover of dance in general and how other cultures influence it, etc. Feel free to tell Carlos your thoughts and ask any questions if you have any. Carlos, from all of us at Pure Dancing With The Stars, we thank you for taking the time to update and report on the show from Argentina for us and we can’t wait for you to tell us how the competition turns out. So, without further ado, here’s Carlos….

Argentinean DwtS Brings More Than Just Dance To The Floor

Hello guys, I’m Carlos, a Brazilian fan of DwtS, but I’m here to talk about the Argentinean version of the show we love. Some of you may have read the comments I wrote that became posts that Vogue published about Bailando, when I talked about Pamela Anderson’s participation and some peculiarities about this show, that is, at fact, a part of the Showmatch, a variety TV show with a tone we call “Popularesco” – which would be geared towards the masses and the content would be full of innuendos… well, think “Jersey Shore”). This said, let’s talk about the dance they do in Argentina. Así se baila en Bailando:

Well, the show premiered on May 17th and will end in a couple weeks from now. Yes. Almost eight months. Do you think it’s too much? Wait till you learn that there are 36 couples who compete during the entire season. 30 couples started, 6 quit (Pamela Anderson and Mike Tyson, amongst them) and were replaced. There was a gay actor paired with a male pro, a “couple” that consisted of two sisters, and one of the celebs is a dwarf lady (my favorite dancer!). Now, the dances: there are a lot of them, of course, some of them as crazy as it can be, and many are very “freestyled”. In fact, some aren’t really a style of dance but named after a prop that you have to use while you are dancing. I’m going to list below the styles the couples danced this season and the huge, and when I say huge I mean HUGE, list of the dances that have appeared on the show during its seven seasons. As example, I’ll try to use the videos of my favorite contestant, the Dwarf singer, Noelia Pompa, and her partner Hernán Piquin. Now, tell me: isn’t she incredible? =]

Note: As David Arquette joked on Jimmy Kimmel about the steamy flavor the Argentinean version of DwtS has, some videos are – how can I say? – NOT kid-friendly, and NOT suitable for work. =p (I’ll let you know which ones)

1- Pop Latino – No big deal here. It’s a freestyle dance to a latin/latin-singer song.
2- Cha Cha Cha
3- Adagio – Similar to Rumba because it’s slow and romantic, but it’s more like freestyle. And you are allowed to do lifts.
4- Axé – This is when Pamela Anderson quit. Axé is a Brazilian street dance that may be similar to aerobics and, traditionally, it’s danced as the song ask you to do some moves. Example: “Put the hands on your knees, get down, shake your booty, etc).
5- Reggaeton – Puerto Rican hip hop

6- Cumbia – Remember Cuban salsa, which is different from the salsa in line (the sisters Escudero. Starts at 3:50) NOT kid-friendly, and NOT suitable for work! but very creative.

7- Baile del Caño – Pole Dancing Noelia.

8- Adagio Latino – Same Adagio danced to Latin songs
9- Cuarteto – Argentinean dance, musically similar to Merengue.
10- Disco
11- Strip Dance – Yes, strip dance. NOT kid-friendly, and NOT suitable for work!

12- Electro Dance
13- Merengue
14- Videoclip – Basically, the couples do a freestyle while a video clip is shown on the background
15- Aquadance – hahahaha love this one. They put a set of four transparent pools with slides and the couple has to dance and dive on them.

16- Árabe – Arabian. Not belly dance, but similar.
17- Bailando bajo la lluvia – Dancing in the rain. A freestyle with a lot of water falling from the “sky”.

18- Adagio de Novela. Adagio with Soap opera themes.

19- Homenaje a Gilda y Rodrigo – Tribute to Gilda and Rodrigo (This one I had to research) Well, Gilda was a very popular singer in Argentina who died on a car accident on 1996. Rodrigo was also a very popular singer of cuarteto who died also on a car accident, in 2000. The couples had to pick one song from their repertoire to dance to, as homage. The story is sad, but the songs are very upbeat and sexy.

20- Cuarto Giratorio – Rotating room. There’s this room that rotates while the couples dance a kind of freestyle. It’s strange, but I kinda liked it. LOL. Can you imagine this on DwtS? (sexy, but it’s allowed, I think)

21 – Música de Películas – Movie themes
22- Salsa Acrobática – Acrobatic Salsa. Good stuff.

23- Semifinal night 1 – (not aired yet) – Two out of four couples are going to dance four styles, competing for a place on the finale.

24- Semifinal night 2 – (not aired yet) – Last two couples dance their four styles.
25- Finale – Not announced yet.

Here’s the complete list of all styles danced on the seven seasons of Bailando (original name: Bailando por un sueño), according to Wikipedia. (Sorry, I haven’t watched Bailando since the first season…) I’ll try to translate some of the names of them:

Adagio, Adagio de Novelas, Adagio Latino, Aero Dance, Amor (Love – I have no idea what is this dance about, but I think it’s just a dance with romantic flavor), Aquadance, Árabe, Axé, Bailando bajo la lluvia, Bailando bajo la Nieve (Dancing in the Snow), Bailes Latinos (Latin Dances), Beat Nacional (National Beat), Canto al Amor Imposible (Sing to Forbidden Love), Cabaret, Country, Cuarteto, Cuarto Giratorio, Cumbia, Cha cha chá (latin, cuban), Cha cha chá de Ballroom (Ballroom cha cha), Chamamé (Mexican dance), Charlestón (Charleston), Disco, Electro Dance, Fantasía (Fantasy – no idea, perhaps costumes?), Flamenco, Folclore, Hip Hop, Homenaje a Rodrigo y Gilda, Infantil (Children’s songs), Jazz, Jive, Lambada, Lujuria (Lust – it could be Edyta’s dance…”less is more” LOL), Mambo, Merengue, Milonga (kind of fast and fun tango), Movida Tropical (Tropical Move), Música callejera (Street music), Música Caribeña (Caribbean music), Música de Argentina (Argentine Music), Música de Películas, Oro del Pop (Pop Goldies), Paso Doble, Pole Dance, Pop Latino, Reggaeton, Reyes del Pop (Pop Kings), Rock & Roll, Rumba Flamenca (it’s the style the Gipsy Kings play), Salsa, Salsa Acrobática, Samba de Ballroom (Ballroom Samba), Strip Dance, Swing, Tango, Valsa, Videoclip, Waltz.

One interesting thing is the fact is that none of the couples danced the Tango yet on this season.

If I may, I just wanna say a big thanks to my friend Renata and all the DwtS brazilian fans on our Facebook and Orkut group. =]