Argentina Bans Dancing in Buenos Aires for Two Weeks

[Judi Lynn]

Argentina Bans Dancing in Buenos Aires for Two Weeks
Published 29 April 2016 (4 hours 9 minutes ago)

The decision to ban dancing at clubs and bars was announced on International Dance Day.


Argentina has banned dancing in Buenos Aires for two weeks starting Friday, closing all clubs and dance bars in the capital after five people died of drug overdose earlier this month at an electronic music party.

"All commercial dancing activity with live or recorded music is prohibited in the city,” ruled the decision by city officials who find controls on clubs "arbitrary and illegitimate."

The injunction, effective immediately, was requested by an anti-addiction association, a union of waste collectors and a university federation.

Several organizations had banded together to push the ban, with a lawyer for the anti-addiction group Winds of Liberty arguing that dance clubs rely on a “business model based on risk," one that allegedly encourages drug and alcohol abuse with manipulating effects like lighting and smoke.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Argentina-Bans-Dancing-in-Buenos-Aires-for-Two-Weeks-20160429-0027.html

[NV Whino]

1. On International Dance Day?

Way to go. 💃🏽

[Warpy]

2. Please tell me this is satire

I know Macri is a right wing neoliberal killjoy, but even he wouldn't be this tone deaf. I hope.

[arendt]

3. Could you share some background?

Is this a provocation by Macri or a legitimate response to a legitimate problem?

If its a provocation, how does Macri expect to benefit from it?

Thanks.

[Ghost Dog]

4. There have been problems, recent (young 'upper-middle class' kids?) deaths...

I do note the ban seems to refer to "commercial dancing activity" …. So, while no money changes hands: ¡dance!

Edit to add, can't resist (I'm above all into 'world music'):

Tango Etymology

Argentine Tango inherited influences from different cultures. Through history, people from all over the world had contributed to the creation of tango.

There are many theories in regards to roots of the word Tango.

One of them is that the word tango is actually an onomatopoeia: the word Tango would represent the sound of the drums that were used in early tango. There are various factors that challenge this theory: the drum was never a typical tango instrument, the first tango instruments were violin, guitar, flute, and later bandoneon.

The second theory is that the word Tango originated from the Portuguese word tangere, which means 'to touch'. However, taking into account that early tango was not characterized by the closed posture, the word tangere cannot be accepted as an origin.

The most acceptable theory is the one that argues that Tango is a word with African roots. In several African languages, tango means indoors – the closed space which was used for dancing. In Spain, Tango represented African dances; moreover, some forms of Habanera are known as Tango Andaluz. Therefore, it is obvious that the word tango was used much before the tango dance. It is believed that the first tango steps originated from those African tango places, where it was danced with no close embrace, which again dismisses the theory supporting Portuguese word tangere...

/... http://www.pasiontango.net/articles.aspx?id=tango-Etymology

[Judi Lynn]

6. Thank you for the tango illumination! Interesting to learn the 1st tango instruments. Who knew? n/t

[forest444]

5. Ghost Dog is right: the ban was in part for reasons of social class.

This is the kind of indignation that Macri's voters typically won't feel for working class kids (the dark-skinned ones, anyway).

But there's more.

The are two public officials belonging to the PRO (Macri's party) with ties to the Time Warp rave in which the five youths died as a result of adulterated ecstasy - the event that triggered this ban.

The first official in question, Carmen Polledo, is head of the PRO (Macri's party) caucus in the Buenos Aires City Legislature. Her husband, Fernando, is co-owner of the firm that operates the Costa Salguero complex where the tradey took place. The Polledos also appeared as Mossack Fonseca offshore banking clients in the recent Panama Papers scandal.

The second official, Director of the Buenos Aires Province Cultural Institute Alejandro Gómez, had in fact already been indicted for the deaths in 1999 of two young people in a rock concert (he was later acquitted). Gómez - who has no experience in the arts at all - was appointed by Governor María Vidal, an overambitious Bible thumper in the vein of a Carly Fiorina; Vidal is being groomed by Macri to succeed him in 2023 (assuming he's reelected, which is unlikely).

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.ambito.com/835627-otra-tragedia-en-un-boliche-otros-funcionarios-involucrados&prev=search

Macri, as you can imagine, is under pressure to "do something" - especially since he himself called for the impeachment of the mayor during the horrific 2004 Cromañón disco fire in which 200 died (and that particular mayor had no ties to the event at all, unlike Macri).

I also should note that this ban - which went to the absurd lengths of banning all such events, be they raves or tango - was overturned on appeal this afternoon. Dance the night away, Buenos Aires!

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infonews.com%2Fnota%2F288263%2Fla-justicia-dio-marcha-atras-y-dejo-sin

[Judi Lynn]

7. Great post! This elaboration on Ghost Dog's post has unexpected levels of information.

Everything which seems in any way to point to big money interests, and power seems to always point at Macri and his ugly crowd.

It looks as if they were scheming how to get their power back with an iron grip throughout the Kirchner/Fernandez years.

Very glad, for multiple reasons, to see your update on the story. Thank you.