"No, I have been dancing for five years but we were taught the old hold and the old position of the body when we started out. We were taught some odd, old way of doing the tango."

What evidence do you have that what you were taught was not as "odd" in the grand scheme of things 13 years ago as it is today?

If you had been taught to dance they way they were dancing at Blackpool in 1995, 99.9% of the places you could go to dance today you would still bring down the house. On the other hand, if you were taught what was commonly known in some little corner of the world in 1995, that might not look so good today because in-depth understanding of ballroom is a bit more widespread today than it was then.

"No one stays with him for very long once they realize that what he is teaching is passe."

Passe? Or never that great to begin with?

When I first started dancing the lady stood very much in front of the man. Her position was determind by her right arm which was at a right angle.Later this changed to the ladies right bust was level with the man's shirt buttons. She then turned away slightly clockwise. The arm in most cases was straighter and not at a right angle.A description of the positions of the body was contact at the hips with the man's right side to the ladies left side. Today. I will quote. The right are of the chest of each partner touches that of the other.
This means of course that the lady is much more to the man's right and consequently the right arm of the lady is is straighter than in those far off old days. Each couple now have more freedom to move which is referered to as their space. No longer is the lady manhandled. She dances in her own space. Very often you will hear a lady say. I don't need you to dance my steps for me I can dance my own. I think I mentioned that on youtube there is a film clip of the Foxtrot and the Waltz as it was danced in 1920. Take a good look at the posture.The dancers are dancing solo as a demonstration. If you have one of the older copies of Alex Moores book. The one where he is pictured with his partner in a ballroom hold. Its nothing like it is today.

We are not talking about 1920, the poster said 13 years, which is 1995.

I maintain that nothing which was truly sound then is obsolete today - or as I put it before, a couple which could dance as they were dancing at Blackpool in 1995 would still bring down the house in the overwhelming majority of dance situations today.

The poster was not, after all, talking about training for winning an international competition - what is important for most purposes is not on which side of the tiny evolution from 1995 to the present someone1s dancing falls on, but rather what fraction of the dancing of either year a given individual has actually learned.

Polished and Anymouse are both right. We started out with an instructor that was not very good and very probable passe. We were taught the old hold of hip to hip, for example, which is wrong now and I believe, wrong five years ago. That was my point, we found an instructor with qualifications and experience that was severely lacking in the qualifications most needed. Of course, any one who dances at Blackpool is awesome no matter what method they adopt. We are social (middle aged) dancers who want to be the best we can be and want to learn it right the first time.

"As I pointed out the hold has changed. The position of the body has changed."

What you haven1t the perspective to realize that there were people at the top doing it both ways then, just as there are today. A couple who does it one way wins and you think the world has changed. A couple who does it the other way wins and you will conclude that the world has changed back.

"see Luca and Lorrain on posture."

And how many others dance like Luca & Lorrain? You keep confusing individual variety for global shifts.

That1s not to say that there is not a slow evolution. But the actual lasting part is much smaller than the couple-to-couple variation at any point in time. And the actual significance is a lot less than you would imagine.

Dancing in the end is dancing - but often only those with far beyond the ordinary experience get back to the point where they can transcend the details and actually understand that.