Short Film

Argentina Gay Tango 2010

Video (2:13): Dance festival marks gay marriage bill. Queer Tango video clip (from Buenos Aires 2010) by AP Archive, published on Youtube July 28, 2015.

AP Archive’s description of the video:

++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Mid of male couple linking up to dance tango
2. Wide of male couple dancing tango in saloon
3. Close of feet of men dancing tango
4. Close of men embracing as they dance
5. Large of exterior of ‘Tango Bohemia’ as people enter
6. Close of sign of name of ‘Tango Bohemia’
7. Mid of women at entrance desk to tango saloon
8. Close up of entrance tickets for ‘Winter Queer Tango Festival’
9. Large of people entering darkened tango saloon
10. Mid of men sitting at tables looking towards dance floor
11. Large of couples dancing tango on dance floor
12. Mid of male couple dancing tango
13. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Mariana Docampo, tango instructor:
“It works perfectly because it’s all about when two people want to join together to dance, I think it is something you can find truly genuinely in tango; it’s not just to do with a woman and man and having to have a man guide a woman.”
14. Mid of tango painting on wall
15. Close of tango painting on wall
16. Mid of male couple talking on side of dance floor
17. Close of male couple talking
18. Close of woman
19. Wide of male couple tango performers walking onto dance floor
20. Mid of man looking through entrance curtain towards dance floor
21. Low angle shot of male performers dancing tango
22. Mid of male performers dancing tango
23. Mid of spectators clapping
24. Close of male spectators clapping
25. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Daniel Ferreira, tango enthusiast:
“For the global gay (scene) what is most incredible, and what maybe we can see from this demonstration is that, as we say, it gives another version of the reality of our society and that is that it’s open to the whole of society to enjoy themselves.”
26. Wide of people dancing tango on dance floor
27. Mid of male couple dancing tango

STORYLINE:
A week after Argentina legalised same-sex marriage the Ministry of Tourism are hosting a ‘Winter Queer Tango Festival’ in Buenos Aires to celebrate.

Local fanatics of the seductive dance and curious visitors hot stepped it to the opening event on Friday night held in Tango Bohemia dancehall.

It kicks off a weekend of exhibitions, workshops and open floor sessions dedicated to the famed dance.

Steeped in culture and tradition tango is traditionally recognised for its sensual and macho movements and was born in the bordellos (brothels) of Buenos Aires.

The gay tango movement started five years ago setting out to show that, whilst it might take two to tango, the dance does not have to always involve a man and a woman.

“It’s all about when two people want to join together to dance,” Mariana Docampo, one of the organisers of the Queer Tango Festival said. “It’s not just to do with a woman and man and having to have a man guide a woman,” she added.

Buenos Aires also hosts an annual international queer tango festival in November and the scene has also reached Europe and the US where annual events are run. The festival is also open to heterosexual couples.

“It’s open to the whole of society to enjoy themselves,” Daniel Ferreira, one of the tango aficionados watching the festival said.