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HISTORY OF

TANGO

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The deep roots of Tango lie in African slavery. The Tangois a mixture of dances peculiar to Blacks in Haiti, Cuba and

Argentina. Both the music and the dance were intense anderotic. Tango was first danced in Europe before World WarI. It originates from Buenos Aires (Argentina) where it wasfirst danced in the ghetto of Buenos Aires. It was thenknown under the name of "Baile con corte" (dance with arest). During the Spanish American War, a popular dance

called the "Habanera del Cafe" appeared which was theprototype of the Tango. The "dandies" of Buenos Aireschanged the dance in two ways. First they changed the so-called "Polka rhythm" to the "Habanere rhythm" andsecondly they called it "Tango".

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In 1907 the dance was introduced in France; by 1912it crossed the channel to England. The dance was sopopular in France and England that Tango teasbecame the rage. It was danced in the United Statesfirst by the Castles who elevated it to a danceaccepted in any ballroom, by purifying it of its coarseassociations and turning it into a thing of beauty. TheBroadway show, Tango Argentino, helped to rekindle

enthusiasm for this exciting, sensual dance.The image so often associated with Tango is that of acat stalking its prey. This is, however, no tamepussycat; imagine the sensual movement of a wildtiger and you begin to approximate the correct

movement. Tango is not as flowing as Foxtrot orWaltz; it has an intense staccato quality that makes itunique. It is a dance of stops yet it is also a smooth,fluid dance.

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The three types of tango:

a. Argentine Tango:A dance created by the Gauchos in

Buenos Aires was actually an attempt on their part to imitate theSpanish dance "Danza" except that they danced it in a closed

ballroom position.

b. American Tango: Unlike the Argentine Tango, in which

the dancer interprets the music spontaneously without any

predetermined slows or quicks, it features a structure which iscorrelated to the musical phrasing. The dance is executed both

in closed position and in various types of extravagant dance

relationships which incorporate a particular freedom of

expression that is not present in the International style.

c. International Tango: This is a highly disciplined anddistinctively structured form of the Tango which is accepted

worldwide as the format for Dancesport events. The dancers

remain in traditional closed position throughout and expresses

both the legato and staccato aspects of the music.