Tango is a partner and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Argentine Milonga, Spanish-Cuban Habanera, and Uruguayan Candombe celebrations. It was frequently practiced in the brothels and bars of ports, where business owners employed bands to entertain their patrons. It then spread to the rest of the world. A number of variations of this dance currently exist around the world.
On August 31, 2009, UNESCO approved a joint proposal by Argentina and Uruguay to include the tango in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Etymology
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word tango, none of which has been proven. An African culture is often credited as the creator of this word; in particular, it is theorized that the word derives from the Yoruba word shangó, which refers to Shango, the God of Thunder in traditional Yoruba religion. This theory suggests that the word "shangó" was morphed through the dilution of the Nigerian language once it reached South America via slave trade. According to an alternative theory, tango is derived from the Spanish word for "drum", tambor. This word was then mispronounced by Buenos Aires’ lower-class inhabitants to become tambo, ultimately resulting in the common tango. It is also sometimes theorized that the word is derived from the Portuguese word tanger, which means "to play a musical instrument". Another Portuguese word, tangomão, a combination of the verb tanger ("to touch") with the noun mão ("hand") meaning "to play a musical instrument with one's hands", has been suggested as the etymon of tango.
According to some authors, tango is derived from the Kongo word ntangu which means "sun", "hour", "space-time". Robert Farris Thompson, Tango: The Art History of Love, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.
The topic of the etymology of the term "tango" remains the subject of intense controversy. One of the foundational works on the issue is José Gobello's article Tango, vocablo controvertido (1976), which specifically highlights the controversial climate surrounding the origin of the word. The core of the passionate debate is essentially civilizational, since it focuses on determining the role played by indigenous, Latin American, African, and European cultures in shaping the expression. Reflecting on this civilizational dispute, Gobello said in 1999:
The researcher Héctor Benedetti, in his essay Sobre la etimología de la palabra tango (2001), provides a detailed review of the various theories that have been proposed and the fate of each. Theories about the origin of the word "tango" go back to the 1914 edition of the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, which stated that it derived from the Latin tangere, a claim removed in later editions.
In 1957, historian Ricardo Rodríguez Molas researched the languages of enslaved people brought to Argentina, mainly belonging to ethnic groups from the Congo, the Gulf of Guinea, and southern Sudan, and discovered the existence of the word "tango" used to refer to "meeting places", both in Africa and in colonial America. Rodríguez Molas then argued that the word "tango" is of African origin.
Rodríguez Molas cites a complaint from 1789, made by Manuel Warnes (then an official of the cabildo of Buenos Aires), in which the word "tango" is used to refer to slave dances:
In Montevideo, at that time, the word "tango" was used with a similar meaning. The Uruguayan musicologist Lauro Ayestarán quoted in his foundational work La música del Uruguay the resolution of the Cabildo of Montevideo of 26 September 1807, issued with the agreement of governor Francisco Javier de Elío:
Notably, the cited provision of Viceroy Elío was recorded in the index of the Actas Capitulares using the term "tango". In the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the terms "tango" and "tambo" were used as synonyms to refer to places where black people danced.
Precisely from the widespread use of the words "tambo" and "tango" as synonyms, the researcher Oscar Escalada, of the University of La Plata, argues that the origin of the term is Quechua, from the word tanpu, Hispanicized by the Spanish conquerors as "tambo" and then used as a synonym for "tango".
Along a different line, it has also been pointed out that the word "tango" has existed in Andalusia since the mid-, to designate a musical genre called tango flamenco or tango andaluz, whose origin has been traced to around 1823 in Cuba, in the black neighborhood of Havana. Flamenco tango, in turn, shows Afro-Cuban—particularly habanera—and African influences. Both the habanera and flamenco tango are among the genres that most influenced the emergence of tango as a musical genre.
Finally, taking into account the widespread use in the Río de la Plata since colonial times of the expressions "tambo-tango", and at the same time the expression "tango andaluz", a double-entry theory has been proposed. It suggests that the word "tango" was used in the Río de la Plata during the 18th and 19th centuries to designate sites of black dances, and then re-entered in the second half of the 19th century, coming from Cuba–Andalusia, this time to designate the dance and musical genre.
History
Tango is a dance that has influences from African and European culture. Dances from the Candombe ceremonies of former African enslaved people helped shape the modern day tango. The dance originated in working-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Tango music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The words "tango" and "tambo" around the River Plate basin were initially used to refer to musical gatherings of slaves, with written records of colonial authorities attempting to ban such gatherings as early as 1789.
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. Also available from
When the tango began to spread internationally around 1900, cultural norms were generally conservative, and so tango dancing was widely regarded as extremely sexual and inappropriate for public display. This led to a phenomenon of culture shock. Additionally, the combination of African, Native American and European cultural influences in tango was new and unusual to most of the Western world.
Many neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires have their particular tango histories: for example La Boca, San Telmo and Boedo. At Boedo Avenue, Cátulo Castillo, Homero Manzi and other singers and composers used to meet at the Japanese Cafe with the Boedo Group.
In the early years of the 20th 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. Tango historian Nardo Zalko, a native of Buenos Aires who lived most of his life in Paris, investigated the mutual fertilization between the two cities in his work, Paris – Buenos Aires, Un Siècle de Tango ("A Century of Tango").Written and published in a French edition: Paris: Du Félin, 1998, . Reprinted in 2004, . Reprinted in paperback in 2016, . Published in Spanish translation: Paris – Buenos Aires, Un Siglo de Tango [Paris – Buenos Aires, One Hundred Years of Tango] Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 2001, Towards the end of 1913, it hit New York City as well as Finland. In the US, around 1911, the word "tango" was often applied to dances in a or rhythm such as the one-step. The term was fashionable and did not indicate that tango steps would be used in the dance, although they might be. Tango music was sometimes played but at a rather fast tempo. Instructors of the period would sometimes refer to this as a "North American tango", versus the so-called "Argentine tango". The tango was controversial because of its perceived sexual overtones and, by the end of 1913, the dance teachers who had introduced the dance to Paris were banished from the city. By 1914, more authentic tango stylings were soon developed, along with some variations like Albert Newman's "Minuet" tango.
In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930, caused a temporary decline in tango's popularity. Its fortunes were reversed later in the 1930s, and tango again became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the first Perón government, which in turn had a major effect on Argentinian culture overall. Mariano Mores played a role in the resurgence of the tango in 1950s Argentina. Mores's Taquito Militar was premiered in 1952 during a governmental speech by President Juan D. Perón, which generated a strong political and cultural controversy between different views of the concepts of "cultured" music and "popular" music, as well as the links between both "cultures".
Tango declined again in the late 1950s, as a result of economic depression and the banning of public gatherings by the military dictatorships; male-only tango practice—the custom at the time—was considered "public gathering". That, indirectly, boosted the popularity of rock and roll because, unlike tango, it did not require such gatherings. However, in the late 1980s the tango again experienced a resurgence in Argentina, partly due to the endeavors of Osvaldo Peredo.
In 2009, the tango was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Styles
The tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras of Argentina, as well as in other locations around the world. The dance developed in response to multiple cultural elements, such as the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. The styles are mostly danced in either open embrace, where lead and follow have space between their bodies, or close embrace, where the lead and follow connect either chest-to-chest (Argentine tango) or in the upper thigh, hip area (American and International tango).
Different styles of tango are: Tango argentino Tango canyengue Tango fantasia Tango Liso Tango oriental Tango orillero Tango salon Tango camacupense (Angola) Tango milonguero (tango apilado) (see also "Milonguero") Tango nuevo (new tango) Tango vals (Tango waltz) Milonga Ballroom tango Finnish tango Uruguayan tango Maxixe (Brazilian tango) These are danced to several types of music: Tango Electronic tango-inspired music (Tango electronico) "Alternative tango", i.e. music that is an alternative to tango, or non-tango music employed for use in tango-inspired dance
The milonguero style is characterized by a close embrace, small steps, and syncopated rhythmic footwork. It is based on the or style of the crowded downtown clubs of the 1950s.
In contrast, the tango that originated in the family clubs of the suburban neighborhoods (Villa Urquiza, Devoto, Avellaneda, etc.) emphasizes long elegant steps, and complex figures. In this case the embrace may be allowed to open briefly, to permit the execution of the complex footwork.
The complex figures of this style became the basis for a theatrical performance style of tango seen in the touring stage shows. For stage purposes, the embrace is often open, and the complex footwork is augmented with gymnastic lifts, kicks, and drops.
A newer style sometimes called tango nuevo, or "new tango," has been popularized in recent years by a younger generation of dancers. The embrace is often quite open and elastic, permitting the leader to lead a large variety of complex figures. This style is often associated with those who enjoy dancing to jazz- and techno-tinged "alternative tango" music, in addition to traditional tango compositions.
Tango de salon (salon tango)
Tango canyengue