About TANGO

TANGO-4U

About "TANGO"

History of Tango

Tango as a distinctive dance and the corresponding musical style of tango music began in the working-class port neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay; the area of the Rio de la Plata.

Origin of the word

There are a number of theories about the origin of the word "tango". One of the more popular in recent years has been that it came from the Niger Congo languages of Africa. Another theory is that the word "tango", already in common use in Andalusia to describe a style of music, lent its name to a completely different style of music in Argentina and Uruguay.

Origin of the dance

The dance form derives from the Cuban habanera, the Uruguayan milonga and candombe, and is said to contain elements from the African community in Buenos Aires, influenced both by ancient African rhythms and the music from Europe.Even though the present forms developed in Argentina and Uruguay from the mid 19th century, there are earlier written records of Tango dances in Cuba and Spain, while there is a flamenco Tangos dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance. All sources stress the influence of the African communities and their rhythms, while the instruments and techniques brought in by European immigrants played a major role in its final definition, relating it to the Salon music styles to which Tango would contribute back at a later stage, when it became fashionable in early 20th century Paris.In Argentina, the word Tango seems to have first been used in the 1890s. In 1902 the Teatro Opera started to include tango in their balls. Initially tango was just one of the many available local 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 development of the Tango had influences from the cultures of several peoples that came together in these melting pots of ethnicities. For this reason Tango is often referred to as the music of the immigrants to Argentina.During the period 1903 - 1910 over a third of the 1,000 gramophone records released were of tango music, and tango sheet music sold in large quantities. In 1910 the bandoneon was introduced to Buenos Aires from Germany and it became linked inextricably with tango music from then on. In 1912, Juan "Pacho" Maglio was very popular with his recorded tangos featuring the bandoneon accompanied by flute, violin and guitar. Between 1910 and 1920, tango featured on 2,500 of the 5,500 records released.

By 1912, dancers and musicians from Buenos Aires and Montevideo 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 1922 guidelines were first set for the "English" (international) style of ballroom tango, but it lost popularity in Europe to new dances including the Foxtrot and Samba, and as dancing as a whole declined due to the growth of cinema.As the dance form became wildly popular with upper and middle classes around the world, Argentine high society adopted the previously low-class dance form as their own. In 1913, tango began to move from the dark side of town to elegant dance palaces. In 1916, Roberto Firpo, an extremely successful bandleader of the period, cemented the arrangements for standard tango sextet: two bandoneons, two violins, piano and double bass. Firpo heard a march by Uruguayan Gerardo Matos Rodríguez and adapted it for tango, creating the popular and iconic La Cumparsita.In 1917, folk singer Carlos Gardel recorded his first tango song Mi Noche Triste, forever associating tango with the feeling of tragic love as revealed in the lyric.Classically-trained musicians weren't associated with tango music until Julio De Caro, violinist, formed an orchestra in 1920 and made the tango more elegant, complex and refined, as well as slowing the tempo somewhat. With Pedro Laurenz on bandoneon, De Caro's orchestra was famous for over a decade.

In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930 caused Tango to decline. Its fortunes were reversed as tango again became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón. Tango declined again 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 1980s following the opening in Paris of the show Tango Argentino The Broadway musical Forever Tango and in Europe Tango Pasión followed. A big tango boom started all over the world. After over 20 years beeing closed the historical Café de los Angelitos where in 1917 Carlos Gardel has signed his contract with Odeon reopened on 19 june 2007 with the show named "El Tango" by Nicole Nau & Luis Pereyra

Tango (dance)

Tango dance and tango music originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the area of the Rio de la Plata, and spread to the rest of the world soon after.

Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine Tango, Uruguayan Tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango and vintage tangos. What many consider to be the authentic tango is that closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay, though other types of tango have developed into mature dances in their own right.

In 2009, Uruguay and Argentina suggested the Tango to be declared a world heritage of humanity, in October of the same year UNESCO approved it.

TANGO AS A SOCIAL DANCE

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADING AND NAVEGATING PROPERLY ON THE DANCE FLOOR

My Goals as a TANGO INSRUCTOR

To provide the best customer service (Dance Instruction) possible.
To make each client (Dance student) feel like the only client.
To promote an inclusive workplace (Fan Dance Environment) and help the community.

I am a Tango Instructor dedicated to serving my dance studet's needs, and my goal is 100% customer satisfaction. I strive to bring you the best in quality Instruction Technique. If something isn't right, please let me know. J.E.

TANGO STYLES:

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Tango canyengue

Tango canyengue is a rhythmic style of tango that originated in the early 1900s and is still popular today. It is one of the original roots styles of tango and contains all fundamental elements of traditional Argentine tango. In tango canyengue the dancers share one axis, dance in a closed embrace, and with the legs relaxed and slightly bent. Tango canyengue uses body dissociation for the leading, walking with firm ground contact, and a permanent combination of on- and off-beat rhythm.^[30] Its main characteristics are its musicality and playfulness. Its rhythm is described as "incisive, exciting, provocative".

The word canyengue is of African origin. It came into use to describe the tango rhythm at the time of the first so-called 'orquestas típicas' (including bandoneón, violin and piano).

Leading exponents of tango canyengue:

Romolo Garcia (deceased)
El Negro Celso (deceased)
Rodolfo Cieri (deceased) and Maria Cieri
Luis Grondona
Marta Anton and 'El Gallego' Manolo Salvador
Roxina Villegas and Adrian Griffero

See also: Movimiento Cultural Canyengue Argentino

Tango orillero

Tango orillero refers to the style of dance that developed away from the town centers, in the outskirts and suburbs where there was more freedom due to more available space on the dance floor. The style is danced in an upright position and uses various embellishments including rapid foot moves, kicks, and even some acrobatics, though this is a more recent development.

Salon tango

Salon tango was the most popular style of tango danced up through the Golden Era of the dance (1950's) when milongas (tango parties) were held in large dance venues and full tango orchestras performed. Later, when the Argentine youth started dancing rock & roll and tango's popularity declined, the milongas moved to the smaller confiterias in the center of the city, resulting in the birth of the "milonguero/apilado/Petitero/caquero" style.

Salon tango is characterized by slow, measured, and smoothly executed moves. It includes all of the basic tango steps and figures plus sacadas, barridas, and boleos. The emphasis is on precision, smoothness, and musicality. The couple embraces closely but the embrace is flexible, opening slightly to make room for various figures and closing again for support and poise. The walk is the most important element, and dancers usually walk 60%-70% of the time during a tango song.

When tango became popular again after the end of the Argentine military dictatorships in 1983, this style was resurrected by dancers from the Golden Era:

El Turco Jose Brahemcha
Gerardo Portalea (deceased)
Luis "Milonguita" Lemos (deceased)
"Finito" Ramón Rivera (deceased)
"Lampazo" Jose Vazquez (deceased)
Virulazo (deceased)
Miguel Balmaceda (deceased)
in the milongas at Club Sin Rumbo, Sunderland, El Pial and Canning.

One of the most famous examples of the elegant Salon style is the Villa Urquiza style, named after the northern barrio of Buenos Aires where the clubs Sin Rumbo and Sunderland are located. Dancers who are currently leading the wave of Villa Urquiza Style tango are:

Carlos Perez and Rosa
Jorge Dispari and Marita 'La Turca'
Miguel Angel Zotto and Milena Plebs (Miguel now dances with Daiana Guspero)
Osvaldo Zotto and Lorena Ermocida (no longer dance partners when Osvaldo Zotto deceased on the 8th January 2010)
El Chino Perico
Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse
Andres Laza Moreno
Samantha Dispari (daughter of Jorge and Marita)
Fabian Peralta and Virginia Pandolfi
Natacha Poberaj
the Misse family (Andrea, Sebastian, Gabriel, and Stella)

"Estilo milonguero" (tango apilado/confiteria style)

This style originated as the 'petitero' or 'caquero' style in the 1940s and 50s in closely packed dance halls and "confiterias", so it is danced in 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. There are not many embellishments or firuletes or complicated figures for the lack of space in the original milonguero style but now also those figures are danced, which only at first glance seem impossible in close embrace. Actually, a lot of complicated figures are possible even in milonguero.

Although the rhythmic, close-embrace style of dancing has existed for decades, the term "Milonguero Style" only surfaced in the mid- '90s when the name was created by Susana Miller, who had been the assistant to Pedro 'Tete' Rusconi. Many of the older dancers who are exponents of this style (including 'Tete') prefer not to use the label.

Tango nuevo

Tango nuevo is a dancing and teaching style that emphasizes a structural analysis of the dance. It is a result of the work of the "Tango Investigation Group" (later transformed into the "Cosmotango" organization) pioneered by Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas in the 1990s in Buenos Aires. By taking tango down to the physics of the movements in a systematic way, they have created a method of analyzing the complete set of possibilities of tango movements, defined by two bodies and four legs moving in walks or circles. This investigation provided a view of a structure to the dance that was expressed in a systematic way.

In walks, their explorations pioneered what were once called "alterations" and are now called "changes of direction" or "cambios". In turns, they focus on being very aware of where the axis of the turn is (in the follower/in the leader/in between them). This tends to produce a flowing style, with the partners rotating around each other on a constantly shifting axis, or else incorporating novel changes of direction.

Many of the recent popular elements in tango vocabulary, such as Colgadas, owe their debut on the tango scene to the popularity of Gustavo's and Fabian's approach.

From this teaching style, a new and unique style of dancing has developed, called by many a "tango nuevo" style. The most famous practitioners of "tango nuevo" are Gustavo Naveira, Norberto "El Pulpo" Esbrés, Fabián Salas, Esteban Moreno, Claudia Codega, Sebastian Arce, Mariana Montes, Chicho Frumboli, and Pablo Verón. Interestingly enough, all of these dancers have highly individual styles that cannot be confused with each other's, yet can be easily recognized as tango nuevo.

Tango nuevo is often misunderstood and mislabeled as "show tango" because a large percentage of today's stage dancers have adopted tango nuevo elements in their choreographies.

Tango tradicional

a very pure and early form of tango, on base as wealking rhythmicley, nos on the beat but with rhythm.

Tango con corte y quebrada

Tango which adds cortes and quebradas, cuts and breaks. The quebradas later on has been put in a more esthetic style (estilizar) and are today known as poses de tango, Tango Positions.

Tango de fantasía

This style is settled in the years 40 to 50. It refers on music, dance and dresses. The term trys to describe all tangoform which is different of the traditional one: In dance couples added little sits and fast footwork, doing fantasies as popular people named it. The men siute with a white border is named traje de fantasía. In music Osmar Héctor Maderna got named tango de fantasía due of his arrangements which conceiveed fancy solos. In argentine Folklore at the same time people fix a similar expression to describe non traditional Folklore with the name folklore de projección.

Tango acróbatico

here acrobatic movements are performed to Tango music. A way of dancing with influences further than Ballett as Modern Dance, Gymnastic, Dance on Ice, Jazz, Circus, Acrobatics and Contact Improvisation with lifts, and figuers of effect. First this form is created by Eduardo Arquimbau in Forever Tango to interpret Tango music by non Tangodancers Miriam and Sandor in the Show Forever Tango. Sandor was member of a Circus Familiy and knew how to do circus and acrobatic acts. This Eduardo Arquimbau uses to get a new performance. The music they danced then was Tus ojos del cielo (Volumen 2 of the CD Forever Tango, on the cover the foto of Miriam). This danceform has been copied later on by many joung dancers on stage.

Show or tango de escenario

Show tango, and Tango de Escenario (stage tango) is a more theatrical form of Argentine tango developed to suit the stage. Movement has to fit on stage forms as diagonals, centre, fronts, light settings, etc. Not necessary but sometimes it includes embellishments, acrobatics, and solo moves. Indeed all styles can be performed on stage, only than has to fit with stage necessities. Stage tango can be improvised in parts but in due to fit general choreographic movements a whole choreography or parts of it has to be fixed. Tango has to be led even on stage, as all forms of Argentine Tango. Otherwise the couple is missing the main principle of this dance and the tango tipic intime connection is missing. This only appears, when he is filling his role (leading) and she hers. Having a Choreography does not mean that he is free of his leading role, he has to lead in order to produce the elements and place them in space and music. This is as important on stage as in a social dance place, but often not taken seriously. Tango on stage has not be confounded with Tango de Fantasia or tangpo acrobatico.

Passion and Sensuality

TANGO IS MORE THAN JUST A DANCE

TANGO IS A LIFE STYLE