Argentine Tango History

Argentine Tango is not the Tango seen in ballroom dance exhibitions or on Dancing with the Stars.  Oh, no, it is very, very different.

True Argentine Tango is a non-choreographed dance, meaning that all the steps are improvised.  The leader and follower are having an intimate conversation with their bodies, which are held very close together at the sternum.  The posture almost looks as if the dancers are leaning upon one another, but the truth is that each is standing in a perfectly balanced posture and the point of contact is very delicately maintained in spite of multitudes of gyrations, changes in rhythm and changes of direction.

This form of tango emerged from Buenos Aires in the late 1800’s where immigrants sought better economic opportunity and religious freedom.  The population was a melting pot of nationalities with African, Italian, German predominating.

Thee days of these immigrants were spent in hard work and at night the people sought a sense of community.  Once the laborers went back to their respective neighborhoods, there would be food, drink, stories and music.  Since this was a new territory there were very few established communities and the street-side gatherings were open to everyone.

It was not long before these cultures began to meld into one another, especially the musical culture.  The African rhythms merged with the accordion from the Slavic and German immigrants and soon a new style of music and dance evolved – Tango.

It is said that there were very few women in Buenos Aires at that time and the ones who were there sought opportunity as well.

With a very low ratio of women to men a prostitute could pick and choose who she would entertain and one of the best ways to determine a pleasant companion was to observe his dancing skills.  In order for a man to procure the privilege it took more than money, he had to be able to exhibit a certain degree of musicality, sensitivity to the music and a partner.

Again, with few women to practice dance with, men turned to each other and that is how the custom of men dancing tango together in an almost athletic, competitive manner was born.

When Tango was introduced in Paris it was instantly popular.  Bordering on vulgarity, Tango fell right into place on the heels of Victorian decline.  When Tango appeared in the movies in 1921 popularity soared even further and soon “everyone” was doing it.

 

For about 30 years Tango was a part of all social events and was performed in theater, movies and in supper clubs.  And then, as many countries fell into dictatorship, Tango fell out of favor and practically disappeared forever.

 

Thankfully, this feline has 9 lives!  Because somehow dancing Tango has re-emerged in the last 25 years and has again been made popular in theaters, movies and supper clubs.

You can now find Tango in every metropolis and even in some smaller communities.  It usually takes a few dedicated aficionados to teach and inspire others in the community to dance Tango.  The steps themselves are not difficult and there are no long sequences of steps to remember so anyone can learn.

That is not to say Tango is easy, it can be quite challenging, a perfect riddle.  You must come to understand the posture, the movement, the rhythm and mostly, your partner.

A wonderful exercise in surrender of the ego is one way to describe it.  I like to use the slogan from the Peace Corps: “The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love”

It’s very much like that, it’s tough, and you love it.  I think it has to do with the crossover in the brains’ hemispheres.  Your mind does not have time to think about anything other than Tango when you are dancing (well, you can try, but it usually interferes with your dancing and you end up dancing clumsily, Tango is definitely not “clumsy”).

When you surrender your mind and allow your body to receive communication from your partners body and that conversation begins to flow in harmony, something magical happens and perception of time and space evaporate.  It’s almost like falling in love.

And yet, Tango is a social dance and you dance with a new partner every 4^th song.  So how do you manage to feel that intimate with each new partner?

Well, that is the secret to Tango and there is only one way to find out…dance Tango.