Paul Pellicoro on Tango

Rating:
Summary: Infommercial and reprints
Review: Nothing the matter with the information that is provided - but it is pretty light. Unless, of course, you want to read the name of Pellicoro's studio about three times per page - and have his friends and associates tell you how great he is. The other issue, of course, is that the most interesting information in the book was not created for it - it is reprints of articles and interviews originally published in Reportango or on Keith Elshaw's web site.

Rating:
Summary: A "must" for all tango dance enthusiasts!
Review: Paul Pellicoro On Tango is a comprehensive guide to the Argentine Tango dance, written by expert instructor Paul Pellicoro -- who is the man that taught and choreographed the tango scene for Al Pacino in the popular movie "Scent of a Woman." Individual chapters embrace the philosophy that anyone can learn the tango, and address everything from dance steps to what to wear to working in harmony with one's partner. An extensive lists of top-class places to go to for tango dancing around the world rounds out this superb instructional for dance enthusiasts. Paul Pellicoro On Tango is a "must" for all tango dance enthusiasts!

Rating:
Summary: Self Serving and Void of Meaningful Technique
Review: The cover starts out with the fact that the author taught Al Pacino how to dance Tango. If it wasn't Al that was dancing this affectation of Tango in the movie, "Scent of a Woman," everyone would have said it was horrible! Besides it was a mongrel form of American style Tango and definitely not the Argentine style. To set the record strait in their movie renditions, Sean Connery, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis all did much better jobs with the instruction they were given!! The line delivered by Pacino to Gabrielle Anwar - "Tango is not like life, my dear. There are no mistakes in Tango - If you get tangled up, you just Tango on," really set up the audience to buy into what they witnessed. Al's yanking, pulling, and tugging on Gabrielle must have left her bruised after practicing with Al under the tutelage of Mr. Pellicoro. No doubt that Paul struggled to get Al to do anything because his forte is wonderful acting and characterizations - but he is certainly no action hero.

The point here is what's in this book is neither about what Pacino danced (other than the cute story) nor what Pellicoro teaches. What bothers me most is that the teaching in the book is primarily about the Tango in the close embrace position. Sorry but beginners beware this is not the way to begin - you will surely fail! In addition no time is taken to truly develop the technique of the Tango in the written word. Humans want to see a picture that's true but as I'm sure Mr. Pellicoro knows that when average humans copy pictures it only leads to awkward imitation. With almost no material to disseminate the techniques being shown the reader is left to their own devices with no primary information. And beginners do not know how to dance! I was very disappointed because he and his partner are very good professional dancers. There are much better books out about Tango for history, pictorials, and dance technique than this one. I had hope for much, much more!