| Tango
comes from African slaves’ candombe,
the Cuban habanera and European folk
dances and a large Italian influence.
There were no specific authors and
had no lyrics. It was even considered
obscene because of the way the couples
tangled their legs while dancing.During
the first two decades of the 20th
century the original harp is replaced
by the Spanish guitar and the bandoneon
appears as the principal instrument.
Here Tango’s voice rises.
There are not much testimonials or
records from this period known as
the Guardia Vieja.You will hear that
Argentine high society rejected Tango,
but this is not real because they
were the ones who were able to but
the discs and musical scores.
Tango was accepted to a greater or
less extent by all social sectors
in Buenos Aires.
In 1910 Carlos Gardel lands in Paris
where the first European Tango craze
took place; while in Buenos Aires
Tango began to move from the dark
side of town to elegant dance palaces
such as Palais de Glace and Corrientes
Avenue and most porteños turned
into expert dancers.
This period is known as Guardia Nueva
and it’s the Tango danced today.In
the 30’s the first orchestras
where formed; Juan D´Arienzo
and Aníbal Troilo created great
versions such as La Cumparsita, which
became world known.
Later in the 50’s Astor Piazzolla
arose, he was one of the most remarkable
Tango musicians who was rejected by
the orthodox tangueros of the Guardia
Vieja due to his innovations on rhythms.
Due to this he went to France where
he became world-known. Today his talent
is honored; in all Tango Shows you’ll
find one of his tunes.With the 60’s
came the Rock and Beatles revolution
and Tango was left behind, though
it not die it just returned to it’s
original habitat, the lower classes
neighborhoods.
Types of Tango
There are two classes of Tango dance,
Tango Salon the original milonga style
danced in Milongas versus the Stage
Tango; this is a choreography put
together for artists to perform on
stage with more athletic moves that
the Tango Salon. The Stage Tango was
created by Juan Carlos Copes and María
Nieves who traveled the world showing
their classic Tango Argentino Show.The
Milongas are the Tango Night Clubs
where people get together to dance
Tango in it’s three styles:
Tango, Vals y MilongaMilongueros are
the attendees to the Milongas, they
usually go every night and even more
than one per night. They choose the
Milonga depending on the attendee’s
performance level and style, timing,
and age group.Milongas can vary from
elegant to informal, but the only
thing that really matters is people’s
motivation to dance and they performance
level.During the past decade Tango
occupied a distinguished place among
the world dances.
Tango in Buenos Aires remains very
popular, combining its beautiful music,
poetics and nostalgic lyrics.
It is the passion and sensuality of
two bodies being one that makes Tango
so contagious and enjoying.Buenos
Aires yearly hosts the two most important
Tango festivals: Festival de Tango
de Buenos Aires and Tango World Championship.
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