National Hispanic American heritage Month

National Hispanic American Heritage Month 2002

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*Argentina*
The National Dance: Tango — Undoubtedly, tango holds a privileged position in the representation of the Argentine abroad. While, basically, it is known as a dance and a music which can be sung, tango also contains a particular language (lunfardo), certain usages and customs, and even a characteristic philosophy identifying tango people. At an international level, in order to distinguish it from so many other forms that appear in dance halls, it is known as Argentine tango. It was this which gave rise to all the other forms. The birth of tango took place towards mid-19th century, with the formation of dwelling conglomerates around the young city of Buenos Aires. Those who lived there, peasants from inland, European immigrants and some disadvantaged porteños (born in Buenos Aires) made up a new social class. Perhaps as a way of identifying themselves as a group and of feeling they belonged in their new home, they began to create cultural expressions derived from this mixture. This was the start of tango, characterized by its extremely closed codes, which were only accessible to the working classes. Source
*Bolivia*
In Honor of the Liberator Simon Bolivar — The first signs of human life that were found in the Bolivian Andes go back to some 21,000 years ago.The first real civilisations appeared around year 600. The two most powerful cultures then were the Tiahuanaco, and the Incas. The first ones used to rule the region nearby lake Titicaca while the Incas built up a large empire stretching out from Ecuador to Chile. Bolivia was part of the Incan Empire from the 13 th century until the Spanish conquered it in the 1500's. The Spanish discovered large amounts of silver which in the area, and that became the primary focus of the colony. Simon Bolivar liberated Bolivia in 1825, being the last Spanish possession in South America to achieve independence. . Bolivia was on the losing side of a number of wars over the years with its neighbors; each war resulted in Bolivia losing territory to its neighbors. From 1962 until 1984 Bolivia was ruled by the military. Source
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