Medium: Article

The International Day of Tango is celebrated annually on 11 December and started out as a joint birthday celebration for both Carlos Gardel, one the most famous and loved Argentine Tango singers of all time (“The Voice “, “The Creole Thrush”, “The Tango King”) and Julio De Caro, one of the most influential composers, violinists and orchestra conductors.

Carlos Gardel was born either in 1887, in Tacuarembó, Uruguay or in 1890 in Toulouse, France. By the age of 6 he was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gardel was famous for the dramatic phrasing of his tango ballads and lyrics, which were played in nightclubs and in films in the 1920s and 1930s. Sadly, Gardel died in a plane crash in Medellín, Colombia in 1935 while on tour. Listen to Gardel and learn more about his life on TodoTango/Gardel.

Julio De Caro was born in 1899, the second of 12 children with Italian roots. In 1924, Julio made his first recordings of a new tango music style that he believed was at the same instrumental level as Carlos Gardel’s style at vocal level. De Caro’s music introduced a “softer” and more passionate violin, which forever replaced the somewhat “marching” tango-arrangements from earlier recording years. De Caro died on 11 March 1980. You can hear some fine examples of De Caro’s music on TodoTango/de-Caro.

The day of celebration was instigated by the composer, producer and talent scout, Ben Molar who was also a personal friend of Julio de Caro.

However, it wasn’t easy to make the day an official celebration of tango! Molar first presented the idea to Ricardo T. Freixá the Secretary of Culture of the Municipality of Buenos Aires City in 1965. Freixá then had get the approval from all the arts organisations of that time; Sadaic , Argentores , Sade , Casa del Teatro, Sindicato Argentino de Músicos, Unión Argentina de Artistas de Variedades, Academia Porteña del Lunfardo, Radio Rivadavia, Fundación Banco Mercantil, La Gardeliana, Asociación Argentina de Actores and Asociación Amigos de la Calle Corrientes. It took 11 years to pass and finally on 29 November 1977 the Decree No. 5830/77 was signed by the Municipality of Buenos Aires City.

Some 13 days later during a tango festival organised by Molar at Luna Park, Buenos Aries, it was announced to some 15,000 dancers, musicians, singers, bands, broadcasters and journalists. Then on 23 December that same year, a decree was put forward and approved by the Secretary of Culture of the Nation, Dr Raúl Alberto Casa to make the 11 December a national day of tango in Argentina.

In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved a joint proposal by Argentina and Uruguay to include the tango in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. Today, officially or not, this special day of celebration is recognised by tango enthusiasts and artists around the world. Happy birthday Carlos. Happy birthday Julio. Happy birthday Tango.

International Men’s Day was first established by Thomas Oaster on 7 February 1992, however, there have been initiatives to get this date in the diary since the 1960’s. In 1999, Dr Jerome Teelucksingh successfully reafirmed the annual day of celebration on 19 November. This marked the date of his father’s birthday and served to recognise how, on that date in 1989, the Trinidad and Tobago football team had united the country with their efforts to qualify for the World Cup.

The day gives focus to promoting gender equality, recognising the male role in society and celebrating men’s achievements and contributions  to community, family, marriage and childcare. Ultimately, International Men’s day aims to address six themes:

• To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sports men but every day, working class men who are living decent, honest lives.
• To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, child care, and to the environment.
• To focus on men’s health and wellbeing; social, emotional, physical and spiritual.
• To highlight discrimination against men; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law
• To improve gender relations and promote gender equality
• To create a safer, better world; where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential

You may ask yourself… Do we really need a day for men? Men have been dominating politics, business, religion, media, sport and even the family unit since forever… Well, yes, in fact we really do. Did you know that as of 2019, in the UK alone:

• As many as 12 men commit suicide every single day and 90% of all homeless persons living on the street are men.
• On average, 95% of the UK prison population are men and 7 out of 10 murder victims are also men.
• At school, girls outdo the boys at every stage of their education and of all the students who leave school and become chronically unemployed, 70% are young men.
• When it comes to money, recession and the pusuit of ‘success’, 84% of all suicides are men.

Dr Jerome Teelucksingh stated: “The observances of International Men’s Day are part of a global love revolution.” And he added that the day “is observed on an annual basis by persons from all walks of life, who support the ongoing effort to improve lives, heal scarred hearts, seek solutions to social problems, mend troubled minds, reform the social outcasts and uplift the dysfunctional,”.

Back in tango world, a culture known for its historical stereotypical gender norms and some might say ‘chauvanistic’ social graces, being a ‘modern man’ presents all kinds of pressures, responsibilities and conflictions. Traditionally, men must ask women to dance. Too bad if you are shy, inconfident or new to tango. Men must lead the dance itself, constantly coming up with ideas for steps and navigating the ‘ronda’ (the line of dance) amongst all the other moving dancers. Too bad if you rather dance the following role, are inexperienced or struggle to constantly think of all the right steps in the right order to please your partner. Too bad if you accidentally crash into another couple or lose your balance.

Indeed, it’s not all single malts and montecristos…

Fear not. Tango men are moving with the times! What it means to be a ‘man’ in tango is changing. Much is being accomplished socially to dissuade chauvanistic behaviours and free men of traditional role-driven responsibilities. There is more and more social recognition and discussion on these subjects within local tango communities with more and more direction and advice given via classes and mentorships to educate, encourage and set good examples.

Equally, the Queer Tango movement, founded in the 90’s, is taking our tango world by storm, making a significant and vital impact on these staunch, age-old traditions about who should lead and who should follow, who should ask and who should be asked to dance. Who is responsible for the ronda and all kinds of knock-on social traditions.

So yes, on the 19th November each year, we tip our hats to the ‘Tango Men’ among us!

—

REFERENCE

The Telegraph – Do we really need an International Men’s Day?

Wikapedia – History of International Men’s Day

Photography – Thibault Cresp Photographie

International Dance Day celebrates dance in all its genre’s and art forms, and, in every way that dance can possibly be, as a social expression. Dance is truly a language that is free of borders and cultures.

Each year, on 29 April, dancers, choreographers, teachers and any other dance-related professionals and amateurs alike, get together to celebrate. And dance.

The date was chosen by the Dance Committee of the International Dance Committee of the International Theater Institute because it represents the date in 1727 when Jean-Georges Noverre, the creator of the modern ballet, was born.

The world has been celebrating International Dance Day since 1982.

—

REFERENCE

International Theatre Institute – About Dance Day

International Women’s Day, held on the 8 March each year, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

Gloria Steinem, feminist, journalist and activist once explained “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”

The world has been been celebrating International Women’s Day since the early 1900’s. The very first day was organised by the Socialist Party of America in 1909. Then, after women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, the 8 March was confirmed. In 1967, the feminist movement took up the mantle and in 1975 the United Nations began to celebrate the day.

Since then, many countries and societies have made the day their own. In some countries it is a public holiday, in others it is known for its protests and marches in the street and yet for others it continues to be, at least, a social acknowledgement.

Today, there are numerous social groups around the world supporting women in tango. The World Tango Championship in Buenos Aries includes a women’s leading pista competition as part of the programme. There are more and more debates, conferences and articles offered by women from all walks of tango life; dancers, singers, teachers and musicians.

The ever-increasing Queer Tango movement challenges the age-old traditional tango boundaries for who should lead and who should follow and insists on open and changing dance roles or same-sex tango. This presents enourmous and exciting possibilities for all tango dancers; Women and men learning and dancing both lead and follow roles.

Indeed, International Women’s Day is held in high regard as an industrious and necessary social movement that meaningfully contributes to the ongoing evolution of Argentine Tango.

Here’s to the ladies who dance!

—

REFERENCE

Wikapedia – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day

About – https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About

#tango4all – https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=tango4all

Pictured – Yana Khalilova, Tango Teacher from St Petersburg, Russia and based in Berlin, Germany – https://www.facebook.com/100001381958466

Photographer – Asya Moiseeva, Tango DJ from St Petersburg, Russia and based in Paris, France – https://www.facebook.com/magmasya