"Danzan solas" (They dance alone)"

I was about 18 when I saw “Missing”. A movie starring Jack Lemmon as an American looking for his son who had gone missing in the Chilean coup in 1973. I remember being struck by the powerful message of the film, the crawling desperation of the father as the sheer hopelessness/helplessness of the situation develops. All that he found certainty in, being stripped away before his eyes. A tragic yet brilliant movie….

When Pinochet & his junta grabbed power on September 11, they wasted little time in silencing effective opposition to their power-grab using the main soccer stadium in Santiago as a Concentration camp for one.

Pinochet lost power in 1988, the matter of his indictment in the torture & murder of his citizens has not been effected..yet!

Ten years later as I watched the Chilean national team sing their anthem at the World Cup in France, I will never forget the passion those lads poured into the lyrics, pride in their country and the long journey out of a dark & brutal night.

I’m a fan of Sting, who wrote this beautiful ballad (below) in honour of the women of the missing of Chile. The mothers, wives, sisters who danced alone in a park in Santiago..a silent protest, a protest of immense dignity….Dancing a Chilean dance, “La Cueca”. Their dance was a symbol of the silent courage of the oppressed masses, a testament to the will of the common people will overcome tyranny in the end.


"They Dance Alone"
Why are there women here dancing on their own?
Why is there this sadness in their eyes?
Why are the soldiers here
Their faces fixed like stone?I
can't see what it is that they despise
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone
They dance alone

It's the only form of protest they're allowed
I've seen their silent faces scream so loud
If they were to speak these words
they'd go missing too
Another woman on a torture table
what else can they do

They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone
They dance alone

One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance

Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
Ellas danzan con los muertos
Ellas danzan con amores invisibles
Ellas danzan con silenciosa angustia
Danzan con sus padres
Danzan con sus hijos
Danzan con sus esposos
Ellas danzan solas
Danzan solas

Hey Mr. Pinochet
You've sown a bitter crop
It's foreign money that supports you
One day the money's going to stop
No wages for your torturers
No budget for your guns
Can you think of your own mother
Dancing with her invisible son
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
They're anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone
They dance alone


More on Chile and her recent travails found here http://www.chipsites.com/derechos/dictadura_victimas_eng.html