ARGENTINA: Hundreds of tango enthusiasts take to the streets of Buenos Aires for this year's Gran Milonga Tango Festival

Record ID: 447215

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Hundreds of tango enthusiasts take to the streets of Buenos Aires for this year's Gran Milonga Tango Festival
  • Date: 2nd December 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ITALIAN TOURIST MARINA DELLE CABE, SAYING: "Tango is something to enjoy in this beautiful city. It has a passion in its embrace that is not seen in any other part of the world."
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Entertainment,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA164V6XQ0N6IK9GPG43GSQX53E
  • Story Text: Buenos Aires' fabled Avenida de Mayo was transformed on Saturday night (December 1) into an outdoor tango ballroom as hundreds turned out for the Gran Milonga tango festival.
    Tango enthusiasts from across Argentina and around the world gathered for the festival in central Buenos Aires.
    "Tango is something to enjoy in this beautiful city. It has a passion in its embrace that is not seen in any other part of the world," said Marina Delle Cave, a tourist visiting from Italy.
    Tango, both the dance style and the music, are synonymous with Argentina ---- so much so that the United Nations (UNESCO) included the activity as parts of cultural world heritage list for 2009.
    Argentines are notoriously proud of the iconic dance and those who turned out on Saturday for the festival were no exception.
    "Dancing in the street of Buenos Aires for me is like touching heaven," said Sebastian Fanuelle, a tango dancer from Buenos Aires.
    The city's culture ministry has organised "The Great National Milonga," a series of staged performances annually for the past several years.
    Tango dancer hope that festivals such as "The Great National Milonga" will inspire people to learn how to dance tango and pass on the tradition to younger generations.
    "The truth is that this is an emotional moment for us people who dance tango because the city opens itself up to tango, and this makes the people see it, love it, and then they go to learn how to dance, and this is really good, it's good for us," said Sergio Dufair, a tango dancer and Buenos Aires resident.
    Tango traces its roots to the brothels of the poorer districts of Buenos Aires in the 1880s.
    Its international popularity has exploded and each year, thousands of tourists flock to the Argentine capital to join in the annual Tango Festival and watch battles between the world's top dancers.
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