Greece’s Naima Gerasopoulou has been crowned world tango champion together with her Argentine partner, Lucas Gauto at the annual competition in Buenos Aires.
The duo lifted the trophy after stealing the judges hearts with an impressive dancing display that was watched by thousands of people around the world who followed the event online
As the bright lights shone on the dazzling couple as they completed their routine, they both shared their joy at winning the highly coveted crown.
For Gauto, winning the title was a long held dream come true: “It was a dream I had twenty years ago, when I first came to the World Championship. That day I said I wanted to become a world champion and hear my name announced. It was wonderful.”
For her part, Gerassopoulou recalled her first steps in the world of tango and the feeling that made her devote herself to the dance: “When I started in Greece, honestly, I didn’t even know what tango was. I didn’t even know it existed. And when I went, what I felt was a sincere embrace from someone I didn’t know. And I wondered: how is it possible to be in such a close and genuine embrace with someone I had never met in my life? That was what, I don’t know, bewitched me. It made me fall madly in love with tango.”
The final featured dancers from several countries including Russia, Turkey, Japan, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, underlining tango’s global and growing appeal.
It is an art form which, as the competitors themselves described, serves as a deeply personal means of expression, communication and connection between people beyond cultural and geographical borders.