Uruguay starts to dance again as pandemic subsides

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — After long months of illness, Uruguay is once again starting to dance.

The government last week authorized ballrooms and event halls to open as the country’s COVID-19 death rate — once among the highest in the world per capita — has fallen sharply.

Seventy percent of Uruguayans have received both doses of vaccines against the virus and once-overstressed hospitals now have empty beds.

The government decided to let ballrooms for dancing open five hours a day — though with limited capacity and mandatory 20-minute pauses each hour to air out closed spaces.

“It’s a very strange thing,” said Paola Dalto, a DJ with the “Cherry Show,” production aimed at the LGBT community which had to adapt its dance and music to the on-and-off rules.

Several ballrooms, and even people in the streets, raced to take advantage on Tuesday, which is usually “nostalgia night,” when clubs play music from decades past.

The selective lockdowns have been devastating in a small nation of some 3.5 million people where tango and other dances are a powerful tradition. Sixty 60 venues closed, according to Javier Abal, president of the Association of Fiestas, which groups 100 ballrooms and event halls that depend heavily on weddings and the traditional celebrations for girls’ 15th birthdays.

Rosario Echavarría said the pandemic closure of her tango dance hall for older adults had “destroyed life ... I stumbled economically and emotionally.”

So she rented a bus and organized an open-air party in the countryside.

“For those who like to dance, you don’t take that away,” she said. “It’s their life.”

Also back are dances in open-air squares. Over the past weekend, Lucía Sotelo led a team of candombe dancers in a street in Montevideo’s Brazo Oriental neighborhood as 40 drummers pounded out the beat. Such open-air gatherings were authorized last month

Panorama Hispano is the regional news and information newspaper for Hispanic and other diverse communities.

US Hispanics are now the largest ethnic minority in the United States numbering 54.2 million as of July 2014. Serving: Buffalo, Rochester, Fredonia, Niagara Falls, NY and Erie, PA. Outside our Market area: Visit our affiliate at: http://www.impremedia.com/

Contact us: Contact@PanoramaHispanoNews.com

Featured News

Sep 29, 2023
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California dies at age 90

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992 […]

Read More
Sep 28, 2023
New rules aim to make foster care with family easier, provide protection for LGBTQ+ children

The Biden administration is moving to make it easier for caregivers to take in family members in the foster care […]

Read More
Sep 28, 2023
LA GOBERNADORA HOCHUL FIRMA UN PAQUETE LEGISLATIVO PARA AMPLIAR LAS PROTECCIONES CONTRA LA TRATA DE PERSONAS EN EL ESTADO DE NUEVA YORK

La gobernadora Kathy Hochul promulgó hoy un paquete legislativo que amplía el Grupo de Trabajo Interinstitucional contra la Trata de […]

Read More

popular categories

Featured (4,152)
Mundo Latino (1,841)
Locales / Regional (797)
Buffalo (1,881)
Dunkirk (1,482)
Rochester (1,460)
PA (1,107)
Negocios / Tecnología (756)
Tecnología y Science (165)
Salud (498)
Deportes (616)
Viajes, Vida y Estilo (608)
Entretenimiento (590)
Extras (296)
Movies (160)
Copyright © 2023 Panorama Hispano News. All Rights Reserved.
crossmenuchevron-downmenu-circlecross-circle
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram