ARGENTINA: Tango enthusiasts switch roles and change up traditional rules in Argentina's renowned Queer Tango Festival

Record ID: 447175

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Tango enthusiasts switch roles and change up traditional rules in Argentina's renowned Queer Tango Festival
  • Date: 21st November 2012
  • Summary: AUDIENCE CLAPPING
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA6MC68IOHS1RMLF71P3O94H4GR
  • Story Text: The sixth annual International Queer Tango Festival kicked off this week in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, bringing together tango aficionados from around the world.
    The festival, founded in Argentina in 2007, aims to create an environment where people feel free to break the often rigid gender norms associated with conventional tango.
    The dance originated on the streets of poor working class immigrant neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires in the late 1800s, and was commonly danced between two men. However, the practice changed over the years and came to be associated with strict gender roles whereby the man dominates in leading his female partner through the dance's complicated steps.
    The Queer Tango Festival represents an important space for tango lovers to enjoy the sophisticated dance without feeling hindered by gender stereotypes.
    Augusto Balizano, one of the festival organisers, underlined the importance of an open-minded atmosphere where non-traditional dance pairings can be celebrated and developed.

    "It's an alternative to traditional tango where the roles of the people dancing are not directly linked to their sex. That is to say, you can dance - a man with a man, a woman with a woman, a woman with a man, but the opposite of what you normally see, with the woman leading the man. The festival consists of classes during the day, and dances during the nights. There are six dances during the week, with 16 classes during the week and the dances are held in distinct milongas in Buenos Aires," said Balizano.
    This year, the city of New York was selected as the festival's honorary sister city and dancers and teachers from the American metropolis are participating in the variety of tango activities taking place around the South American capital.
    American Sidney Grant, winner of the 2011 USA Tango Championships and a guest of honour at this year's festival, was excited to be part of the event.

    "Being here in Buenos Aires is always such a thrill, because you can just feel tango in the air. It's so wonderful to be here and I think as someone who has a lot of clients - a lot of women that I teach in New York, it's very important for me to share tango in the gay community. Because it's a wonderful way for the community to connect in a way that's very intimate and yet non-sexual, it's sensual but not necessarily sexual and that's important for people to understand - that you can connect very intimately with someone but it doesn't have to be sexual," said Grant.
    In addition to tango classes and dances, workshops and conferences are being held throughout the week to encourage new forms of expression in tango culture and to work towards the festival's goal of building a truly open tango community that is not restricted by gender or sexual orientation.
    Widely considered as the tango capital of the world, the city of Buenos Aires has also become known as a gay-friendly tourist destination due to its open-minded atmosphere and progressive legislation; in 2010 Argentina became the first country in Latin America to allow gay couples the right to wed.
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