Argentine tango!

 

In honor of the last blog of the semester, I’ll be covering Argentinian Tango! Specifically honoring their culture by discussing the history and musical aspects of this dance. The tango is a famous partner dance with powerful expression and improvisation between two close dancing partners. It sets a close connection and introspective movement to the room. To start, the origin of the word tango isn’t known. In fact, it seems to have some relation to the languages of Africa after the original popularization in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Uruguay. Specifically the Rio de la Planta which is the official boarder between Argentina and Uraguay. The original style of tango was birthed in low-class port cities and districts where it was mostly practiced by slaves and those of the lower class. There was a period of time when this dance was banned from musical gatherings at which many of these “lower-class” participants would perform. It was often that the members of the upper class would scorn those who would participate in this type of dance because of its poor reputation. 

As men and women moved to Argentina in search of a better life, there was a shock of the dance that fueled across the county. As the dance began to spread across the globe it was coined as the “music of the immigrants”. At this point, there was no stopping this beautiful movement of dance. It became a blend of the African candombe, habanera, waltz, polka, schottische, and flamenco! 

As for the music, it was a collection of instruments that performed a beautiful instrumental sound. Because of their casual nature, most of these instruments were portable instruments like flutes, guitars, and violins. When Germany made their way into Argentina, they brought an instrument called a Bandoneon. It is a free-reed instrument much like the accordion or concertina. It operates off of 71 buttons rather than a keyboard (an accordion). The player will create air pressure with both of their hands and push the buttons to manipulate the sound. Other instruments also include the double bass, clarinet, and piano. As the tango became more popular, words began to be put into song as singers would perform alongside the music. Specifically using Lunfardo, or words of slang and nostalgic lyrics. Not all tango songs require vocals, but it can sometimes be a nice element to the performance. We’ll discuss more of the dance rhythm later, but it typically operates off of a 2/4 or 4/4 beats per measure. The music will include the use of accentened note (how a musician should play the note), sudden and slight changes, and slides (where the musician will start a few “spaces” below the note and slide upward. Typically done on a chordophone.) 

A photo of a bandoneon, one of the most prominent instruments in tango. 

    A focus on the music, here is a performance done with Emory University by the Orchestra Club Atlanta. You can see the two bandoneon players focused in the beginning! The violins, piano, and double bass are also seen here. 

In the modern day, there are two main types of tango that are performed: the original Argentinian Tango and the Spanish Anadulsion Tango, or the dance performed by a single woman. However, there’s plenty of other kinds: ballroom tango, finnish tango, uruguayan tango, tango nuevo, vintage tango, and Chinese tango! Here’s a look at the traditional Argentine tango, which uses both a parallel system and a cross foot system in the steps.

In short, the tango is a walking dance. Meaning exactly what it sounds like - all the steps are based on walking. The rhythm is as follows: slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. It is a partner dance where the steps are different for the lead and follow. The lead places their right hand along the following bottom rib cage and grasps the following hand with their left. The following hand is placed on the lead shoulder. It is a closed position dance, meaning that you are quite close to the partner for the entire duration. Knees bent, the lead begins by placing their left foot and curve gradually to the left as the partner follows. This video by Helen Wang Tango can teach you some of the basics if you find that you ever want to learn yourself. 

Most dancers will dress as you’ve seen in the videos and pictures. It is recommended that women where a flowy dress or slacks to accentuate the movements. Men should wear slacks, dressier shirts, and sometimes even a jacket. By no means is this required because of the dances casual nature, but it is what you will typically see because the tango has rooted itself upon many cultures to “dress to impress”. The tango is a romantic and lyrical feeling dance. 

By the end of the 1900s, the tango erupted in North America and Europe and flourished in popularity. Its importance to Argentine culture has done nothing but grow because of its heart in the cities and streets of the country. The tango has come from a world of large gatherings within the city to ballroom dancing and competitions, but it has never lost its origin within the country of Argentina. As it travelled onto countries like Spain, Paris, and London the tango became a little more tightened up and introduced into ballroom dancing and competitions. The tango stuck its roots into several countries night life and festivals. Notable entities in the US include: The Tango Festival in CO, Tango Element in MA, and Valentango in OR. The Tango has grown and will continue to grow for centuries- the popularity has just began in the grand scheme of things. I hope to see you try the dance out in your free time as well.

Thank y'all for such a fun class, cheers to the final blog.

References:

Tango history - origin and characteristics of Tango. History of Tango - Origin and Characteristics of Tango. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from http://www.dancefacts.net/tango/history-of-tango/ 

Donquijote. Argentina Dance - Tango. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.donquijote.org/argentinian-culture/traditions/tango/ 

Puerto La Boca. (2021, June 1). Why is the tango so important to Argentina? Puerto La Boca. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.puertolaboca.com/blog/why-is-the-tango-so-important-to-argentina 

Farrant, D. (2022, April 20). 8 Tango Musical Instruments you should know. Hello Music Theory: Learn Music Theory Online. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://hellomusictheory.com/learn/tango-instruments/