Argentina takes steps to save tango

One of Argentina's best-known exports

Argentina has begun a campaign seeking protected status for the national dance, the tango.

Tango is an essential element of our culture and soul

President Fernando de la Rua

After football, tango is probably Argentina's best-known export and now the government wants it to be recognised by the United Nations cultural organisation, Unesco.

Argentine President Fernando de la Rua is spearheading the campaign, and was present at a launch ceremony in the capital, Buenos Aires.

He said he was confident the UN body would accept the importance of tango as a part of Argentina's national identity:

Tango history

Evolved in Buenos Aires in 19th century

African, Spanish and South American influences

Popular in Paris in early 20th century

"Tango is an essential element of our culture and soul", the president said.

Unesco, which has long granted recognition to important cultural artefacts, recently decided to start honouring forms of "popular or traditional expression" such as languages, oral literature, music and dance.

The organisation is expected to decide next June whether the tango will qualify for membership of this category.

Low-life beginnings

Tango developed in the 19th century among the immigrants who reached Argentina from Africa and Europe.

The music and dance steps combine African influence with rural Argentine traditions - which in turn reflect both Spanish and native South American origins.

The tango is so Finnish

Finnish politician Eeva Kuuskoski

Popular in the low-life bars and brothels of Buenos Aires, the sexually suggestive dance was associated with prostitution - though according to some accounts, it was first danced between two men.

It is characterised by intricate steps and arm movements and is usually accompanied by the accordion.

As the immigrants became absorbed into the mainstream of Argentine society in the early 20th century, so the tango became more respectable.

In the 1920s, it started appearing in Paris's nightclubs, and went on to become a dance craze in Europe.

Right to the Finnish

Recent years have seen another revival of the dance, thanks to countless films featuring tango dancing - including the high-profile musical Evita.

The once-disreputable dance is now performed at dance festivals worldwide - and is reported to have caught on particularly well in Finland, which holds a tango festival each summer.

"The tango is so Finnish - it's so strong and it understands this country's people," Finnish politician Eeva Kuuskoski said recently.

"Finns ponder some of life's major questions through the tango."