Argentine culture moves closer to Vietnam with Tango dance

Argentina’s National Tango Day which takes place on December 11 each year always attracts the attention of many Argentines in Vietnam as well as Vietnamese people who love the Tango dance from South America. In the cold early winter weather of Hanoi, the lively, emotional performances of the professional Tango couple Pablo Daniel Martinez and Bárbara Benítez made the atmosphere “hotter” than ever.

A Tango performance presented in the Argentine National Tango Day in Vietnam - photo: The Embassy of Argentina in Vietnam

According to the Argentine Embassy in Vietnam, the two dancers Pablo Daniel Martinez and Bárbara Benítez now no longer perform Tango dance in their home country and have decided to act as “Tango ambassadors,” bringing Tango to 25 countries and more than 30 cities, spreading the love of Tango to friends and learners in Europe and Asia.

In 2024, Pablo’s Tango journey in Europe ended in Vienna (Austria). The artist couple continued to return to Asia with stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Hanoi (Vietnam), and then Bali (Indonesia). This was the first time the two artists came to Vietnam. The dancers have conquered the hearts of the audience by their attractive performances.

Argentina’s National Tango Day has been celebrated since 1977, on December 11, to celebrate the birthdays of famous tango singer Carlos Gardel and famous musician Julio de Caro.

Although the Argentines did not invent the Tango, this country is considered the homeland of Tango because the Argentine people “mixed” the dance with others from Spanish, Finnish and African immigrants. Based on that multi-race culture, the Argentines turned it into their own dance, and then it became popular all over the world.

In particular, Tango is a cultural harmony between the middle class and the rich, when this dance appeared in 1890 from the working class in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Then it gradually spread to the city, bringing all the openess and freedom and then mixing with what was considered the elegance of the urban class.

As an open dance, the “leader” is a man and the “follower” is a woman, so Tango was once considered too sexy, as the leader and the follower are sometimes too close to each other. But it was that close flexibility that made the Argentine Tango style prestigious. In 2009, Tango was recognized by UNESCO as one of the world's intangible cultural heritage elements.

Tango performances presented in the Argentine National Tango Day in Vietnam - photo: The Embassy of Argentina in Vietnam

As time went by, Tango has become a very important art form and has developed brilliantly in Argentina. Tango is also a cultural feature that makes people around the world know Argentina the most. Through Tango, people can better understand the lifestyle and thinking of Argentines. Therefore, Tango has become a cultural bridge connecting lovers from all over the world, including Vietnam.

Argentine Ambassador to Vietnam Marcos A. Bednarski expressed his impression when seeing many Vietnamese people love and dance Tango. “We will also continue to promote Tango. At meetings with local authorities, I asked them to support the initiative to bring Tango into the city’s cultural exchange activities,” Ambassador Marcos A. Bednarski said.