Tango

File:Buenos aires-2.jpg

Tango in streets of Buenos-Aires

Tango is a social dance form that originated in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Argentina; the musical styles that evolved together with the dance are also known as tango. 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, leading up to the development of what is now known as tango.

The dance originated in Montevideo and Buenos Aires during the late 19th century. The music derived from the fusion of music from Europe, the South American Milonga, and African rhythms. The word Tango seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants.

The dance was soon found on the street, in bars, dance halls, and in the upper class venus such as the Teatro Opera, which started organizing balls that included tangos in 1902. While some of the sleezier downtown dance halls served the double purpose of being popular places to find prostitutes, it seems unlikely that the Tango was actually danced in brothels, though this is a common misconception. Because of the shortage of women, in the working-class areas men often danced with other men or with prostitutes.

In the early years of the twentieth century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the USA, and Finland. These exported versions of Tango were modified to have less body contact ("Ballroom Tango"), however the dance was still thought shocking by many, as had earlier been the case with dances such as the Waltz.

In Argentina Tango became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón. It declined 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 1980's following the opening in Paris of the show Tango Argentino and the Broadway musical Forever Tango.

Tango Styles

There are a number of styles of tango:

• Argentine Tango
  • Tango Canyengue
  • Tango Liso
  • Salon Tango
  • Tango Orillero
  • Tango Milonguero (Tango Apilado)
• Show Tango
• Ballroom Tango
  • American
  • International

Argentine Tango (Tango Argentino)

Argentine Tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras, and in response to the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. Even though they all developed in Argentina and Uraguay, they were also exposed to influences reimported from Europe and North America. Consequently there is a good deal of confusion and overlap between the styles as they are now danced - and fusions continue to evolve.

Many moves are danced with chest-to-chest and head-to-head contact, with smooth "stalking" stepts and dramatic flicks of the leg. 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 modify these.

Argentine Tango is generally danced anti-clockwise around the edges of the room, and it is acceptable to stop briefly in the line of dance to perform stationary figures.

Tango Canyengue

Tango Canyengue was danced in the 1920s and 30s when the long tight fashion in dresses restricted the woman's movements. Consequently the style involves short steps. The dancers tend to move with knees slightly bent, the partners slightly offset and in a closed embrace. The style tends to be danced to a 2/4 tempo.

Tango Liso

Liso style Tango developed in small and crowded dance halls, where there was only space to take a few paces, before having to circle around each other while waiting for a space to open. The style is danced with an upright posture, usually with each dancer slightly offset to the right of their partner. If a close embrace is used, it is relaxed to allow the woman to preform turns. The dance involves just the simpler step - decorative moves such as boleos, ganchos, and sentadas are absent from the style.

Salon Tango

Salon Tango developed in the less crowded upmarket dance halls, allowing space for boleos, ganchos, and sentadas to be perfomed. The style is generally danced in an open embrace.

In modern usage, the words "Salon" and "Milonguero" are often both applied loosely to older styles of Tango.

Tango Orillero

Tango Orillero is thought to have developed away from the town centers in the outskirts and suburbs, where there was more freedom due to there being more space on the dance floor. The style is danced in an upright position, and embelishes the dance steps with various embellishments including rapid foot moves, kicks -- and even some acrobatics, though this is a more recent development.

Tango Milonguero (Tango Apilado)

Milonguero Tango developed in the 1940s and 50s in closely packed dance halls, so is danced in a very close embrace, chest-to chest, with the partners leaning - or appearing to lean - slightly towards each other to allow space for the feet to move.

In modern usage, the words "Salon" and "Milonguero" are often both applied loosely to older styles of Tango.

Ballroom tango illustration, 1914

Show Tango

Show tango, also called Fantasia is a more theatrical and exaggerated form of Argentine Tango developed to suit the stage. It usually includes many ganchos (leg flicks) and sweeping moves.

Ballroom Tango

Ballroom tango, divided in recent decades 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, adapted to the preferences of conventional ballroom dancers, and incorporated into the repetoire used in International Ballroom dance competitions.

Subsequently the International Tango evolved mainly as a competitive dance, while the American Tango evolved as an unjudged social dance. As a result, the American Tango is believed by some to be inferior, and some American Tango teachers have introduced elements of technique borrowed from the International Tango. In International 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. International 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 Argentine Tango, the "close embrace," with full body contact, is often used. 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

External link

• Reflections on the origins of tango