BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Ballet dancers took to the streets of Argentina’s capital Thursday, blocking traffic but causing onlookers to break into cheers and applause as they performed pirouettes to “Swan Lake” in protest of government funding cuts. About 80 dancers, choreographers, and other workers of the state-funded National Ballet of the Dance lost their jobs in December under government austerity measures. Protesting dancers stretched and warmed up at the barre amid honking cars before their performance and hung a long rope with ballet slippers on a downtown street. “But the government has to always think: Where should I cut money from? Some of the best ballet dancers, opera singers and philharmonic operas have performed at the famed Teatro Colon.

Source: National Post February 01, 2018 21:22 UTC