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Argentine Tango
Argentine Tango is a wonderful partner dance. Very sensual and energetic this dance has been developed through the years into a number of varying styles. The dance itself consists of walking steps and is generally a more organic form of movement than its ballroom counterpart.
When we discuss the origin of Argentine Tango there is no real linear way to track the development of this dance. The concept that there was music and then steps and then bam we have tango is a misconception.
Many dances from around the world as well as varied musical influences have played a part in the development of this wonderful dance; but giving the credit to these influences takes away from the culture and people who truly developed it into the art we see today. These Tangueros are the people of Buenos Aires, who in the bars, the streets, cafes, and dance halls made the Tango, danced Tango, lived, loved, and sometimes died for the Tango.
It is the voice of the streets of Buenos Aires. Any insinuation that this marvelous dance is some regurgitation of a Euro-African beat must be rejected as insulting to those great Milogeuros and Tanguero Masters who spent a lifetime or more dancing and evolving this dance. This is equally insulting to the Tango Maestros who have drawn on life experience and creativity to develop the music that is Tango.
The history of the development of Tango requires that we go back to Buenos Aires when it was a large settlement under the control of the Spanish Empire. The settlers were primarily Spanish immigrants and slaves transported from Africa. (Buenos Aires - Good Wind in Spanish, but probably better translated as "Fair Winds", referring to navigation)
However the settlers of Buenos Aires were continually attacked and repulsed by the natives of the area. Around 1541, the settlement was completely abandoned but then re-established in 1580 on a permanent basis. Following this re-establishment was a large scale battle for the area, which brought into play the Gaucho, the South American plain riders. Though these fighters were initially thought of being akin to South American equivalent of the "cowboy", when in fact they were seen more as freedom fighters and fought without fear as a type of cavalry. They would often carry out hit and run raids, usually as part of a private army for a local land owner or caudillos, local warlords in all but their name.
On May 25, 1810, the citizens of Buenos Aires got rid of the Spanish government and a local provincial government was established. On July 9, 1816 Buenos Aires declared its independence from the Spanish Empire, although this was not recognized until 1862.
Very Shortly after this independence was won the interests of big business dictated that the pampas should be cleared of the native Indian population and the vast number of Gauchos. Five divisions of extremely well equipped troops were sent under the control of a local general by the name of Julio Argentina Roca to effectively clear the plains of the Araucanian Indians and most of the Gauchos. However, as with the industrial revolution of England, these now displaced people began to drift towards the rapidly growing city of Buenos Aires. In the drift the Payadores came (traveling musicians of Gaucho stock). They would appear at a bar, and begin to strum a simple tune with its base on the 4th string as they sung ad-libbed lyrics, usually obscene. It is possible that this music had its roots in some native Indian rhythms or tunes. This explanation does offer fairly good idea as to the origin of the milonga, but is by no means the only explanation.
Now we have the Africans, brought across as slaves. They had their own brand of rhythmic music. The most notable of these was Candombe, which was a very athletic dance. No doubt some where along the way , the Candombe met the Payadore and his guitar. So may have been born the milonga in a form more recognizable to the current generation. It is also very possible that the Polka, Waltz, Mazurka and Schottiesche, also played a role in the development of Milonga.
Almost certainly, the most important factor in the evolution of the Tango was the influence from the Habanera, created in Havana, Cuba, and also known as the Andalusion Tango.
Unfortunately, there's not enough information to assess exactly how this was originally danced. The Habenera was based on the concept of the "walk", the same as Tango.
At some point in it's evolution the Milonga and the Habanera were fused to form an embryonic version of the Tango. At this point you all ready have a dance with many diverse influences from around the world.
Around 1880, large scale immigration, most of whom were men, increased the population of Buenos Aires. One figure suggested that at this time there was 1 women for every 50 men.
Men tempted by "the better life", and "streets paved with gold", instead found only a lonely and squalid place with muddy streets and poor accommodations. Often they became stranded on the outskirts of the city and every day was a struggle to survive.
The one trade in Buenos Aires that was flourishing above all others was prostitution. A reflection of the hardships endured by the people, a way of survival for some, and a desperate means of earning income for others. It is unlikely that the working girls would see much of the money. For many men, owning a women who earned good money working in a brothel was a status symbol.
It is hear on the back streets of Buenos Aires, in the brothels and bordellos, that the Tango really took on life and shape. These illegal brothels, most became known as Academies de Dance, were the massage parlors of their day. The dance had to be simple, so if the police raided the joint (police who had not previously been bribed), there would appear to be "dance instruction" going on.
It was in the rise of the Compraditos and the Compadres who really launched the Tango. Compraditos - the street man, sometimes but not always , small time villains, hustlers, and pimps. Compadres - the local men of means or at least some means, sometimes involved in shady dealings, slightly better than the Compraditos who tried to emulate them.
The dance itself probably started out as some form of acting out the relationship between the pimp and the prostitute. This was often reflected by the titles of the first tangos which referred to the characters in the business of prostitution. It must also be noted that when written lyrics to these songs began to appear, women were often being portrayed as evil temptresses, there to lead good men into sin and degradation.
At this time the Tango was completely outcast from upper class or well to do parts of Buenos Aires as being a dirty and risqué street dance. Although, many of the well to do young gentlemen, would allegedly visit the 'Dance Academies' for instruction.
About 1880, a new instrument arrived from across the ocean, the German Bandoneon. An extremely difficult instrument to master but its wailing sound caught the very soul of the Tango. From this time the Bandoneon became inextricably linked to the music of the Tango.
From the early 1900's, however, a new variation of lyric began to appear. One reminiscing on times past, often with a sad, melancholia, recalling wasted lives, lost loves, unrequited love, the missing of a mother, the missing of you barrios (district) or street, but most importantly the love of the Tango itself. The lyrics were written in the language of the streets of Buenos Aires, Lunfardo, a mixture of Spanish, Italian, Native Creole and words being strangely twisted.
The change in the Tango lyric may have also occurred at this time because it is thought that Tango was first demonstrated by the Argentinean playboy Ricardo Guiraldes around 1910-1911 in Paris. It was so different from the other dances of the time and considered at best somewhat obscene. It challenged the conventions of acceptable public behavior at the time. The Comtesse Melainie de Pourtalis stated, upon seeing it demonstrated in 1912, "is one supposed to dance this standing up?".
However, the rapid acceptance by the people of Europe of the dance, invariably meant that it was re-exported back to Buenos Aires. Now the dance was embraced by the upper classes, who had so vigorously opposed it only a few years earlier.
The dance was banned by the pope after a private viewing, and Kaiser Wilhelm 1 forbade his officers to dance it while in uniform. This effectively banned it from all state balls.
Yet the Tango has survived, and evolved, thanks to the people of Buenos Aires. But it is not the end of the Tango story. In a way Tango is more threatened now than ever before. Why? You might ask. Because of the creeping Europeanization of the dance.
More than anything else, Tango is about the connection, an empathy between two people, the need to embrace and be in the arms of another, to escape, albeit for just a brief moment in time, and in that moment, to live a lifetime . . .
Most Europeans and North Americans have no connection to this concept. It is totally alien to them. The see the dance in terms of "how flashy can we make the steps" and how do we get more patterns. This is not dance for any dance, but especially for the Tango. The Tango when done with the true feeling is a unique and life changing experience even from dance to dance. If you cannot grasp this concept than you will never truly experience Tango. In fact the concept of patterns is actually against the true nature of the dance.
Tango must simply be danced, with immense feeling, with sense of flowing energy between dancers. This energy grows and decreases with the ebb and flow of the music. It is at its core, seduction, or a private conversation of the body and mind, something to be quietly shared, not publicly displayed.
To those that Tango "SPREAD THE FEELING"