The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation aims to preserve a list of legacies under threat from global change. Argentina and Uruguay, where the dance originated, jointly submitted it. UNESCO said heritages seeking approval, transmit from “generation to generation” and give “communities and groups a feeling of identity”. It added that the dance “embodies and encourages diversity and cultural dialogue.” Argentinian official Hernan Lombardi said he was “very proud that the music and dance of the Tango have now been safeguarded for humanity.
(via bbc.co.uk)
It is beyond doubt that tango now is Argentina’s best known export product, just before the steaks, and that it is a passion that spreads easily regardless of languages and nationalities. But that is quite a recent thing: tango’s current conquest of the world really started in 1983, after the military junta in Argentina fell. Read about tango’s history: www.history-of-tango.com.
The UNESCO details are here:
As one of the most recognizable embodiments of that identity, the music, dance and poetry of tango both embodies and encourages diversity and cultural dialogue. It is practised in the traditional dance halls of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, spreading the spirit of its community across the globe even as it adapts to new environments and changing times.
(thx for the hint: Jacques, Roland, Kris)
