\n<\/p>\n
The pair received a standing ovation as confetti filled the stage and they lifted the championship trophy. Gerasopoulou celebrated the victory with the Greek flag, while Gauto held the Argentine flag, putting Greece prominently on the stage at one of the world\u2019s most important tango competitions.<\/p>\n
More than 800 couples from around the world took part in the competition, which attracts leading tango dancers to Buenos Aires, the city widely regarded as the birthplace and global home of the dance.<\/p>\n
The victory holds particular significance for Gerasopoulou because she discovered tango almost by accident in Greece.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started in Greece, honestly, I didn\u2019t even know what tango was. I didn\u2019t even know it existed,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
She said the connection between two dancers first drew her to the dance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I felt was a genuine embrace from someone I didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerasopoulou said she could not understand how two people who had never met could establish such an intimate and authentic connection through an embrace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was what enchanted me. It made me fall completely in love with tango,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her dedication eventually took her from her first encounters with tango in Greece to the world\u2019s biggest stage in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n
The result also underlined the international character of the competition. In the Pista category, C\u00f3rdoba-born Gauto won the title with Greek dancer Gerasopoulou, while the senior category went to Aldo Adri\u00e1n Romero of Tucum\u00e1n, who partnered Buenos Aires dancer Marcela Pilatti.<\/p>\n
For Gerasopoulou, however, the defining image of the night was unmistakable: the Greek flag alongside the Argentine flag as she and Gauto raised the world championship trophy before a packed audience and thousands of viewers watching online around the world.<\/p>\n