Tango

File:Buenos aires-2.jpg

Tango in streets of Buenos-Aires

Tango is the name of a social dance form that originated in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Argentina, and of the musical styles that evolved together with the dance. Early tango was known as tango criollo or simply tango. Today, tango dance styles include Argentine Tango, Ballroom Tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango, and vintage tangos.

History

The word "tango" has no clear etymology. It may derive from a place-name used in African languages, or from the Portuguese word tocar, 'touch.' The name was widely used among Black communities in Spanish America to refer to a place where people gathered to dance. Later the name was applied to various Black dance forms.

The dance originated in the working-class slums of Montevideo and Buenos Aires during the late 19th century, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of poorly-paid European immigrants. The music derived from the fusion of music from Europe, the South America Milonga and African rhythms. Since many men were young and single, the dance often took place in bars, dance halls and brothels with prostitutes, when the dance involved close body contact, or with other men due to the shortage of women.

The dance became known to the well-heeled sons of the establishment, who evidently visited the working class districts from time to time, and with their help less sleazy versions of the tango became very popular in the United States and parts of Europe in the 1910s. It proved especially popular in Paris, as well as in London and New York. Although these versions of Tango were modified to have less body contact ("Ballroom Tango"), the dance was at first thought shocking by many.

In Argentina Tango became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón, declining in the 1950s with economic depression and as the military dictatorships banned public gatherings, followed by the popularity of Rock and Roll. The dance lived on in smaller venues until its revival in the 1980s following the opening in Paris of the show Tango Argentino and the Broadway musical Forever Tango.

Ballroom tango illustration, 1914

Argentine Tango

Argentine Tango is based on the original style, influenced by the more "respectable" style developed in France around 1913. Many moves are danced with chest-to-chest and head-to-head contact, expressing passion and a range of emotions, with dramatic flicks of the leg. It's danced anti-clockwise around the edges of the room. In sharp contrast to ballroom tango and most other social dances, Argentine tango relies heavily on improvistion and in theory, every tango should indeed be improvised. Although there are many steps and sequences of steps that a tango dancer is expected to recognize, every dancer is free to use or not use these.

Show Tango

Show tango, also called "Fantasia" is a more theatrical and exaggerated form of Argentine Tango developed to suit the stage.

Ballroom Tango

Ballroom tango, divided into the "International" and "American" styles, is descended from the tango styles that developed when the tango first went abroad to Europe and America. The dance was simplified and incorporated into the repetoire used in Ballroom dance competitions. In Ballroom tango, sequences of figures and even entire dances are choreographed instead of improvised. This makes the dance less dependent on lead-follow technique and allows for more separation between the dancers. Ballroom tangos also use different music and styling from Argentine tangos, with more staccato movements and the characteristic "head snaps."

Technique

All widely known forms of the tango are done by a couple using gliding steps. The basic position is a closed position similar to that of other kinds of ballroom dance. In the Argentine Tango the ball of the foot is placed first, while in the International style "heel leads" (stepping first onto the heel, then the whole foot) are used for forward steps. Ballroom tangos, including American and International, are based mainly on the movement of the feet across the floor, while the Argentine Tango includes various other moves such as the gancho (hooking one's leg around one's partner's leg).

Tango music

Argentine Tango music is traditionally played by an orquestra tipica, which often includes violin, piano, guitar, flute, and especially bandoneon.

The most famous tango musicians and singers include Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Gardel, Osvaldo Pugliese, Juan de Dios Filiberto, Enrique Santos Discepolo and Anibal Troilo.

The so-called post-Piazzolla generation (1980-) includes musicians such as Dino Saluzzi, Eduardo Mederos, Enrique Martin Entenza and Juan Maria Solare. Piazzolla and his followers developed Nuevo Tango, which incorporated jazz and classical influences into a more experimental style.

Important Orquestas típicas (around 1940-1950): from Rodolfo Biagi, Juan Darienzo, Alfredo De Angelis.

Tango on film

• The Tango Lesson - 1997 movie starring Sally Potter and Pablo Verón, directed by Sally Potter.

See further

• Lunfardo