Argentine tango and the Greek revolution
By now it is twelve days since the protests started in the city of Athens. The message of the protesters was adopted by several other cities (Yiannena, Corfu, Patras, Larissa e.t.c.) while the number of people who wish to join seems to be on the rise. Apart from the usual shouting, chanting, marching and occupying public building, the meetings (surprisingly) include cultural activities. The other day in Thessalonike the protesters decided to dance argentine tango outside the White Tower! Several couples exhibited their abilities in this (exotic by Greek standards) dance. Whether they impressed the crowds is not the issue. What matters is the choice of dance. Argentine tango became extremely popular across the world only during the past decade, after Argentina defaulted. Argentine teachers travel continuously to European countries in order to teach, preach and advertise this beautiful experience. Tango is firmly connected with the national identity of their country, even though it recently took international character. The choice of the Thessaloniceans could be interpreted (subconsciously) as an attempt to show solidarity with the Argentineans and to declare that they anticipate to follow their fate.
You can take a look at pictures from the event here http://www.olathessaloniki.com/2011/06/oi-tango.html
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What escapes you, though, is that all over Greece you can find “tango aficionados”- passionate tango dancers, that is- and milongas in almost every city, even on islands. Whether tango is thought to be exotic I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that the event at the White Tower was organized by people who already dance tango and organize a milonga in the city (which, incidentally, has a bar dedicated solely to argentinean tango) and they did it by enthousiasm and, maybe, for advertisment. If you are a tango dancer you should know that “tangueros” would find any excuse to dance. As for solidarity to Argentineans, I wouldn’t think that people thought that much. A parallelism between the two countries, of course. Greeks mention Argentina all the time. But tango in Greece goes further in the past.