It Takes Two…
What Is Tango?
When you think of Argentina, you probably think of famous writers like Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar or a passion for soccer and an obsession with Lionel Messi. However, there is one aspect of Argentinian culture that is older and more deeply rooted than both of these: the tango.
While pop culture and the movie industry suggest that there is only one type of tango and that it is simply an overly dramatic duel between a man dressed in a tuxedo and a woman dressed in a black or red dress, maybe with a rose somewhere in the mix, the state of “tango” today is actually much more rich and diverse.
Not only has the dance flowered into various different styles within the Río Plata region of Argentina and Uruguay where it initially developed, but it’s been adopted by other cultures all over the world and adapted to fit their own preferences. In addition to what we would call “Argentine tango” today, there exist tango milonguero, tango salón, tango canyengue, tango nuevo, performance tango, and ballroom tango.
Tango milonguero is a tango form done in in the milonga, or the tango dance hall, and is the social dance form of Argentine tango that people most often think about. There are many similarities in the steps and movements that are found in Argentine tango performances, except the performances also usually features lifts and acrobatic movements that are impossible in the crowded halls of the milonga.
Tango milonguero and tango salón are very similar, although the latter features a wider and more relaxed hold that allows for different movements and an overall less intimate look to the dance. “Argentine” tango in this article will refer to this general type of social tango dancing.
The other major type of tango dancing done around the world is ballroom tango, of which there are two main categories: the International Standard tango and the American Smooth tango. The main difference between the two styles is that in the International style, the couple must remain in a closed hold for the whole dance whereas in the American style, the couple is allowed to break hold and opt for either a different hold or no hold altogether. There are a plethora of different steps involved in each of the styles, with the American style offering a lot more artistic freedom with respect to arm movements, holds, and theatrics.
The Origin and Establishment of Tango in Argentina
It is not entirely clear when or how tango first developed in the Río Plata region at the border of Argentina and Uruguay. The word tango itself possibly comes from African languages meaning “closed space,” but it also might come from Portuguese or Latin words meaning “to touch” [1]. Support for the African origin comes from the fact that slave gathering spots in Argentina were called tangos.
These theories about the origin of tango reveal its interconnected and mixed heritage. There are influences in the steps, music, and feel of the dance from European, African, and indigenous cultures. The dance emerged partially from the candombe style of former slave peoples, but the influx of Europeans in the early 20th also shaped the dance when the immigrants came with their polkas, waltzes, and mazurkas. They also brought the iconic tango instruments that we hear today, such as the flamenco guitar, the violin, and the bandoneón, a smaller version of the accordion that gives tango music its unique sound.
Like most immigrant experiences in new countries, the lives of the immigrants to Argentina were rough and filled with crime and disappointment with their lots. In order to distract themselves, the immigrants, mainly men, took to dancing tango as a way to alleviate the stress of starting anew in a foreign land. Since there were not many women in the early days of the immigrant communities, tango gatherings were often male-only, where the men would first learn to follow for around a year and then begin to lead. This was a highly competitive atmosphere and the tango became a sort of mating dance in order to win the favor of the few women in these communities.
Once tango got a strong footing in the poor immigrant communities, it soon found its way into other facets of Argentinian society. Initially, the middle and upper classes scoffed at the dance, viewing it as the meddling of lower class immigrants and gang members, but they soon began appreciating the style and started trying it out for themselves. Unfortunately, the 1929 stock market crash in the United States and the subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s saw a sharp decline in tango dancing as people had to struggle to just survive.
Ironically, the election of Juan Domingo Perón, the right-wing, militaristic president of Argentina from 1946 to 1955 that established peronista politics in the country, would allow for the expansion of tango and the flourishing into the art form we see today.
Perón, like many right-wing Latin American leaders, was a devout Catholic and wanted to force his worldview on his country. He saw tango as an uncouth dance form that had no place in a Catholic Argentina and he banned public gatherings in order to prevent uprisings against his regime, so the male-only tango practices could not happen out in the open as they had before. Instead, tango went underground, where it experienced growth and a shaping into what is often seen [2] in Buenos Aires milongas today. So while tango was not out in the open as it was before the military dictatorships, it was experiencing a period of growth and development that would only make the dance and its community stronger in the long run.
From Europe Back to Buenos Aires
Tango was not limited to the milongas of Buenos Aires. In the early years of the 20th century, the dance found its way to Paris. Being the height of Western culture at the time, if something reached Paris and caught on, the rest of the West soon followed suit. Eventually, there were tango crazes in London, Berlin, New York City, and even Finland, where a new type of tango was developed (“Finnish tango” or “Fintango”) that is still highly popular today and has an annual festival in the city of Seinäjoki.
While the Europeans were experimenting with this new dance and putting their own spins on it, within Argentina, tango was branching out into various different flavors. Even in the early days of Argentine tango, there were some different variations. Tango canyengue is one of the earliest forms and is still danced today. It is characterized by a playfulness of musicality and rhythm that allows a lot of freedom and flexibility in staying on and off the beat.
Tango uruguayo was the form of tango developed in Montevideo, Uruguay. Within the different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, such as Villa Urquiza, Devoto, and Anallaneda, people gave their own flares to the tango, many of which have inspired the performance tango moves seen on the stage today.
Tango salón, as aforementioned, is the social form of tango done in the milongas. Tango milonguero was developed in the 1990s and is similar to tango salón, except that it is designed for crowded dance halls, so the hold is much closer, such that it looks like the leader and follower are leaning towards each other to allow more space for the feet. There is a strict set of rules associated with these social forms of tango, such as being required to follow the line of dance, preventing bottle-necking on the dance floor, and respecting other dancers on the floor. There is an emphasis on musicality, smoothness, precision, and good navigation of the floor.
In recent years, a style of tango called tango nuevo has been popular with the younger generations of Buenos Aires. It was established in the 1980s and made popular by the music of composer Astor Piazzolla and today uses music that is a combination of traditional tango rhythms and modern electronic. The primary philosophy of tango nuevo is the idea of teaching students how to dance and not what to dance, using principles of musicality and kinesiology to give people a basis and allowing them to explore for themselves what they can do [3].
Who Dances it Better?
Soon after the tango reached Europe, the ballroom dancing world adopted it for their own purposes and added it to their list of dances to be done in competitions around the world. It was officially codified as a ballroom dance in 1922 and it was decided that it should be danced at 30 bars per minute to standardize it and make it easier to judge.
For many years, the “ballroom” tango was the “international standard” style, whose rules all ballroom dancers had to follow, but America soon developed its own variation of ballroom dancing called the “American smooth” style, initiated and popularized by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with its own version of tango.
The main difference between the International and American styles is that the former requires that dancers remain in a closed hold the whole time (see the picture below) while the latter allows for an open hold and even a separation between the leader and follower. The tempo of the American style of tango is slightly slower to allow for its more complicated movements and embellishments.
The American style also has a lot of influences from another part of ballroom dancing called “Latin,” which features dances such as the cha-cha-cha, rumba, and paso doble. It is the latter of these that has contributed most to American tango, with many of the shapes of the dancers’ hold and some steps coming directly from the paso doble.
The general feel of the two types of ballroom tango are quite different and are strongly informed by the steps, the hold, and even the costumes that the competitors wear. The International style is essentially a white-tie affair in which the men wear full tail suits and the women wear extravagant ball gowns with long flowing floats and many sparkling stones. The American style, on the other hand, is a bit more relaxed; the men often wear suits and ties (specially designed to allow for dancing) and the women wear simpler and more contained dresses. Thus, the International style appears much more formal and rigid while the American style appears more casual and allows for a lot more showmanship for the audience and the judges.
It Takes Two…
While ballroom tango is a derivative of Argentine tango, the two have diverged so much that they seem almost completely unrelated, save for the music. Of course, the greatest difference between Argentine and ballroom tango is that Argentine tango is still primarily a social dance with a realm that is dedicated to performances but ballroom tango is almost exclusively a competitive activity. As such, many of the steps and the technique of Argentine tango are internal, meaning directed towards the dancers without a concern for anyone watching, while ballroom is more external, concerned with presentation for an audience and a panel of judges [4].
One of the primary differences between Argrentine and ballroom tango is the hold. In Argentine, the hold, called an abrazo, or “hug” in Spanish, is often more intimate and appears like the leader and follower are leaning in close to each other. This hold is not artificial; it organically develops from the steps and body mechanics.
The hold of Argentine, at its base, is a connection between the left hand of the leader and the right hand of the follower where the right hand of the leader is around the follower’s back and the left hand of the follower is high on the leader’s back, even around the back of the neck. The elbows of the leader and follower are close together and pointed down. The “leaning in” grows out of this hold when the leader allows the follower to shift her weight towards him to allow for the fancy footwork that is iconic of Argentine tango.
The ballroom hold, on the other hand, is much more rigid and defined. The elbows are almost parallel to the ground, forming a straight line from elbow-to-elbow, the follower’s left hand is tucked under the leader’s right arm, and the leader’s right hand is sightly below the left shoulder blade with the tips of the fingers touching the spine. This connection creates a more upright and pulled back look, allowing for greater movement and the iconic head snapping motion seen in ballroom tango, a feature unique to ballroom.
The weight distribution and movement also differ between Argentine and ballroom tango. In Argentine, the body’s center moves first and then the feet move. In ballroom, the knee moves first, driven by the placement of the foot (which is always a heel lead in ballroom but can be a toe or a heel lead in Argentine) and then the hips and the rest of the body follow. This gives ballroom tango a staccato look while Argentine has a more continuous flow around the room.
In addition to the technical aspects of body movement, a major difference between Argentine and ballroom tango is in the choreography. Being a social dance, Argentine is not choreographed; the leader and follower have a repertoire of moves and steps that they have, but the leader and follower improvise and decide on the spot what they will do, interpreting the mood of the music and of the space they are dancing in. This makes Argentine a more organic dance that requires a strong connection between the leader and the follower to successfully interpret each other’s signals.
Ballroom, on the other hand, is highly choreographed and often features lavish routines that both the leader and follow have memorized. However, even though both dancers know which steps are coming next, there still needs to be a strong connection so that the moves and steps can actually be executed; the moves are still led, they are just known ahead of time [5].
Finally, the steps themselves are quite different. While the basics of Argentine are the basis of ballroom tango, the steps in ballroom tango often cover much more ground and have an aggressive staccato look in order to catch the judges’ attention and demonstrate the dancers’ understanding of the technique.
Argentine tango is primarily a social dance done in crowded dance halls, so many of the steps are done on the spot and allow for stationary footwork, some of which are even inspired by the juggling of a soccer ball done by soccer players. Much of Argentine tango social dancing is simply walking to the beat as the couple traverses around the floor and appreciates the connection the man and woman feel with each other.
Outlook
Dance often reflects the history and stories of the people of a culture. This is certainly true of the tango in Argentina. The multicultural roots of the dance, being inspired by slave culture and the various European heritages brought over during the early 20th century, reflect the mixed history of Argentina and Latin America in general. The adoption of the dance by Europe and the United States is another example of a Latin American nation’s dance form being taken by outsiders and adapted to fit their own style. Ballroom dancing may be more flashy and attract more people around the world, but those who truly care about the origins of tango will discover its roots in the milongas of Buenos Aires.
References
[1] Argentine Tango. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Apr. 2018.
[2] Eduljee, Ed. Introduction. Introduction to Argentine Tango Dancing.
[3] History of Argentine Tango. Dance of the Heart.
[4] Spencer, Daniel J, and Ashan Samarasinghe. Professional Argentine Tango Lesson. 10 Apr. 2018.
[5] Tango in Argentina. History of Tango: Origins of Tango Dance.
