- Title: ARGENTINA: Gay tango festival puts new spin on Argentine dance
- Date: 26th July 2010
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JULY 25, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF SITE FOR FESTIVAL
- Embargoed: 10th August 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA4DITQWPCX8S0GX9N6U2OGEXQH
- Story Text: Argentina's gay tango festival challenges dance's rigid gender roles on the heels of Argentina's new gay marriage law.
Two men locked in a tight embrace step in time to the mournful chords of a tango. One follows his partner's lead, but halfway through the melancholic song, he takes charge.
The nostalgic music and passionate moves are the same as those found in most Buenos Aires tango clubs, called milongas, but a gay tango festival is giving a new twist to a dance that traditionally maintains strict gender roles.
"We began to establish ourselves with different activities - first classes, later tango clubs, spaces where people could enjoy dance - and that this dance not be restricted to the habitual roles, but that each person can enjoy it with whomever they want to dance with and, as we say, from whatever side you want to dance," said festival organizer Augusto Balizano.
The event is an offshoot of the bigger International Queer Tango Festival, launched in 2007 to increase interest in the dance among the gay community in Argentina, which this month became the first nation in Latin America to allow gay marriage.
Balizano said there was no direct correlation between his festival and the new law.
"Of course dances existed - the gay community did not begin to meet now because there is a law. Now we have the legal stamp. This is an advance and important and I believe that it should be shared and mixed with the possibilities that tango has for enjoyment and that one can be happy living in this city," he said.
At a workshop held as part of the weekend festival, there were none of those normally associated with the quintessential Argentine dance -- women in high-heels and dapper, suited men.
The students got a chance to put their lessons into practice later that night at the Academia Bien Porteno milonga.
Buenos Aires is a popular destination among gay travelers and this weekend's mini-festival also sought to take advantage of an influx of European tourists on summer vacations.
A boom in tourism during the last decade also has rekindled interest in tango, which was born in Buenos Aires' immigrant neighborhoods.
Traditionally the man leads the woman, but if no women could be found to accompany them, so-called tangueros would perfect their steps with each other. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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