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Tank Man Tango

Probably the most interesting and poignant work to hit the airwaves this week is Tank Man Tango: a dance created as a memorial to Tank Man, the man who defiantly stood in front of advancing tanks in Tiananmen Square 20 years ago: 4 June 1989.
The organising website forget2forget has the details of the art-work, including the U-Tube link to the original footage and the steps people can perform in ritual remembrance of the event–yet another in which a government (literally) rides ‘rough-shod’ over the lives of ordinary people.

A tango? Perhaps more appropriate would be to add add another movement to those of T’ai Chi Chih  ( 太 极 智 ), as it is promoted as a  meditative form of exercise to which practitioners attribute physical and spiritual health benefits. Or perhaps even more fitting, a T’ai chi ch’uan (太極拳) form (套路 taolu) because, according to the Wikipedia entry:

The term T’ai chi ch’uan literally translates as “supreme ultimate fist”, “boundless fist,” “great extremes boxing”, or simply “the ultimate”.

which seems quite appropriate, really.

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