2421  Tango as antidote to suicide

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Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 17:45:08 -0600
From: Brian Dunn <brian@DANCEOFTHEHEART.COM>
Subject: Tango as antidote to suicide

Dear list,

Two things occur to me when looking at the interesting page about suicide
linked below:

>>>

If your answer was correct then how do you explain this:
https://www.aneki.com/suicide.html
Many of the countries listed do not have long winter nights.
<<<

First, all the countries listed, relatively speaking, do have long winter
nights. Remember that Europe is in general further north than the United
States. A check of my globe indicates that most of these countries are
further north than Maine, and some are considerably so.

Second, and more tango-related, in the case of Finland (which is WAY
north) - Finland has an incredibly vital and active social dance culture,
with the Finnish Tango as its centerpiece. This summer, for example, in
early July, there will be a dance festival in Finland that draws
100,000-120,000 people for an intense weekend of social dancing. According
to one participant, who was a fellow student in Gustavo & Giselle's Buenos
Aires workshops this spring:
"There are about thirty dances in Finland besides tango, each of which takes
about two minutes to learn. In contrast to Norway and Sweden, everybody is
comfortable with a close embrace. At this weekend event, traditionally you
never dance more than two dances with the same partner. Except for eating
and sleeping, I danced all weekend, and every dance was fantastic."

We'll verify this for ourselves this summer. In the meantime, I note that
long nights in winter also mean short nights in summer, and it seems the
Finns really know how to throw a dance party. Maybe social dancing is one of
the things people develop to keep each other from getting too depressed in
winter? Kind of like coffee culture in Seattle, maybe...;)

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado USA
1(303)938-0716
https://www.danceoftheheart.com
============================
"...after that tango, we are no longer strangers..."
--- Robert Heinlein, "The Number of the Beast"
============================




Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 20:33:43 EDT
From: Mallpasso@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Tango as antidote to suicide

I think the answer to why suicides are high in Finland or any other country
is more associated with culture and economic situations rather than geography.
After all India also has a very high suicide rate, especially among it's
younger population and females:

https://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994846


In a message dated 4/28/2004 16:46:27 Pacific Daylight Time,
brian@DANCEOFTHEHEART.COM writes:
Dear list,

Two things occur to me when looking at the interesting page about suicide
linked below:

>>>

If your answer was correct then how do you explain this:
https://www.aneki.com/suicide.html
Many of the countries listed do not have long winter nights.
<<<

First, all the countries listed, relatively speaking, do have long winter
nights. Remember that Europe is in general further north than the United
States. A check of my globe indicates that most of these countries are
further north than Maine, and some are considerably so.

Second, and more tango-related, in the case of Finland (which is WAY
north) - Finland has an incredibly vital and active social dance culture,
with the Finnish Tango as its centerpiece. This summer, for example, in
early July, there will be a dance festival in Finland that draws
100,000-120,000 people for an intense weekend of social dancing. According
to one participant, who was a fellow student in Gustavo & Giselle's Buenos
Aires workshops this spring:
"There are about thirty dances in Finland besides tango, each of which takes
about two minutes to learn. In contrast to Norway and Sweden, everybody is
comfortable with a close embrace. At this weekend event, traditionally you
never dance more than two dances with the same partner. Except for eating
and sleeping, I danced all weekend, and every dance was fantastic."

We'll verify this for ourselves this summer. In the meantime, I note that
long nights in winter also mean short nights in summer, and it seems the
Finns really know how to throw a dance party. Maybe social dancing is one of
the things people develop to keep each other from getting too depressed in
winter? Kind of like coffee culture in Seattle, maybe...;)

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado USA
1(303)938-0716
https://www.danceoftheheart.com
============================
"...after that tango, we are no longer strangers..."
--- Robert Heinlein, "The Number of the Beast"
============================


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