tango history

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 The Argentine Tango originated in the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay, in the late 19th century. The roots of this dance lie in African candombe, Cuban habanera as well as waltzes and polkas.

It was a popular dance among European immigrants, former slaves and the working and lower classes. It came about through the nostalgia and melancholy felt by those who were far from home.

During Argentina’s political struggles with prohibition and dictatorships, the dance was forced underground where some say performing it was considered an illegal act. It later came back to light in the 1980’s and its popularity soared again before spreading throughout the rest of the world.

The Argentine Tango involves a variety of styles that evolved across regions and eras as venue began to crowd and the fashion started to change.

The focus of the Argentine Tango is to match the speed and emotion of the music while improvising the steps.

The Argentine Tango is danced by two people in an embrace that can vary from being open (the leader and follower dance at arm’s length) or closed (the dancers touch chest-to-chest).

The follower alternates their weight from foot to foot, never resting weight on both at the same time. The follower is led to alternate feet by the leader, who steps outside the follower’s legs.

 The music of the Argentine Tango is more varied than that of ballroom dancing and features a clear repetitive pulse with a strong tango rhythm.

There is a large repertoire of music when it comes to the Argentine Tango. Having a varied selection of songs meant that Argentine Tango dancing could go late into the night.

The most notable and representative composers of Argentine Tango music were actually descendants of Italian immigrants: Di Sarli, d’Arienzo, Troilo and Pugliese.

During the 1990’s, the Argentine Tango experienced a resurgence of popularity as young dancers began pairing the tango steps to more contemporary music such as trip-hop and blues.