Buenos Aires (AFP)
Words too machismo, guidance exclusively male, invitation to dance only at the initiative of the man: a feminist collective wants to take advantage of the World Tango of Buenos Aires to revisit the stereotypes of this highly codified dance.
Born in the late nineteenth century in the brothels of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, this passionate hand-to-hand was initially considered too sour to be practiced in public, then gained popularity and acclaim after a detour by Paris.
At the Usina del Arte, the cultural center of the Argentinian capital that hosts the event, 744 couples from 36 countries between the ages of 18 and 99 participate in the competition. Hundreds of other amateur couples attend classes, concerts and balls for two weeks.
All meet around the same passion, the tango, even if their visions diverge sometimes.
"The very essence of the tango plays with the idea of the submission of the woman, of a macho and dominating man, but if that were not the case, would it still be tango?" Wonders Mariana Argüello , a 26-year-old Argentina assiduous of milongas, evenings open to the initiates as to the curious ones and the tourists.
It is for her "a necessary role play that takes place while the music lasts."
Behind the scenes, behind the main stage, female candidates make up and adjust their low-cut dresses before the dance competition.
Meanwhile, in an annex room, the Women's Tango Movement (MFT) challenges the macho side of this dance, which was classified by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage in 2009. On a small track, apprentice dancers attend a "role-exchange" class, a variant of the increasingly popular tango where it is the woman who guides and not the man.
"In the traditional tango, there has always been a reversal of roles because men practiced with each other, but it is new for the woman because she has always had a passive attitude" so far, says Adriana Vasile, dancer and choreographer in charge of this initiation.
- "New landscape" -
With this variant, "it is the woman who offers (the steps) and that's fantastic," she enthuses about what she calls "evolution of dance".
"The tango must accompany the march of the world where (the role of) the woman has changed a lot and this is happening to the tango", summarizes Adriana Vasile.
This new way of dancing, less codified, is spreading in the milongas of Buenos Aires, where evenings "classics" alongside those called "friendly", prized by the youngest.
It is normal to see same-sex dancers or mixed couples exchanging roles on the floor.
"At one point, they change (the location) of the arm and the other one takes control," says Soraya Rizzardini Gonzalez of the MFT.
In these "friendly" nights, we do not dance anymore on some traditional tangos whose lyrics are too macho, even violent towards women.
"Clearly, the first words of tango were macho, misogynistic which constituted a true apology for feminicide," says Ms. Rizzardini citing a song with the misleading title: "Amablemente" ("Aimablement"). She tells the story of a surprised woman in the arms of another man who receives, at the very end, "34 stab wounds".
Another evolution related to this new trend, it is the woman who invites the man on the track, which is totally prohibited by the traditional codes of the tango.
"That's what has softened the fastest, before it was frowned upon and now it's part of the new tango landscape," says Soraya Rizzardini Gonzalez. "As feminists, we make a critique of all the logic of domination of tango, we want dance to be a dialogue between peers."
On the other hand, at the Mondial de tango, it is the traditional model that still dominates.
"What we see are sexist stereotypes: a sexualized woman who shows her body and a dominant man whose only face and hands are visible, but there are new ways to live the tango, you just have to discover them, "concludes Ms. Rizzardini.
© 2019 AFP