The History of Tango

In these early years of Tango, lyrics were generally comic and often bawdy. A driving force in the development of Tango music was the dance, and ultimately it was the dance that introduced the music to the rest of the world. Young men of good Argentine families would be sent to Europe to study. Polite society in Paris saw the dance for the first time and loved it; soon, all of Europe was swept up in a wave of “Tangomania”. 1913 was the “year of the Tango” in Paris and around the world, and the impact back in Buenos Aires was profound. As the popularity of Tango grew, there started to be a market among the middle and upper classes for Tango music and recordings. This put pressure on both the music and the lyrics to change. As the lyrics improved, great singers began to emerge – and then dominate – the Tango scene, particularly with the advent of radio and film. As the music adapted to accommodate the star singers, it began to be less attractive to dancers, so for a brief period the dance became less popular. This all changed when the popular orchestra of Juan D’Arienzo came on the scene in 1935. D’Arienzo was unapologetic about creating the kind of Tango music that people wanted to dance to (though his style was criticized as a backward step in the evolution of Tango music) and it was the injection of energy that Tango needed.

During this time, legendary Tango singer Carlos Gardel emerged. He would go on to become the “King of Tango” as a handsome, singing sensation who was popular worldwide. He had even signed a contract with Paramount in the U. S. Paramount, seeing his box office attraction, recognized Gardel as a way to make inroads into the Latino market. Gardel’s promising career ended when he was killed in a plane crash in 1935 at the age of 44, and event that devastated the entire country of Argentina. To this day, he is considered a Tango “immortal”.

The years between 1935 and 1955 are generally considered to be the Golden Age of Tango. It was the period when all aspects of Tango – song, music, and dance – were in the greatest harmony. Composers, arrangers, lyricists, singers, and dancers all hit new heights.

Learning to dance tango took years. Typically, young men in their early teens would attend man-only practice dances, or practica, where they would at first observe skilled men dancing. Then, an older man would start to teach an new student how to “follow” (or dance the women’s part). When the student was ready, he’d gradually learn how to “lead” (the man’s part) until, finally, he would lead well enough to attend a real dance or milonga. This entire process typically took about three years. The young man would continue going to the practica regularly for years, as that was there they would continually practice new styles and perfect their steps – and help teach those young boys just learning the dance.

Women learned to dance the tango in private and in the home. Many were taught by fathers, brothers, uncles, though some were taught by mothers, sisters or aunts. (These women obviously had to learn the man’s part as well as the woman’s – no small feat). Though there was much less pressure on women to reach a high standard in the dance, women took their Tango as seriously as the men did.

The coup in 1955 that ousted General Juan Peron had profound consequences for Argentina, and Tango was nearly derailed during this time. Peron has been an nationalist and a populist (and Tango was both national and popular). Many famous Tango artists were involved with the Peronist movement, so the new regime had a very negative knee-jerk reaction to anything having to do with Tango. Many of those same artists were wither imprisoned or blacklisted. No longer were large numbers of men allowed to meet in the social halls to dance together, as it was seen as very suspicious and an “obvious” cover for political agitation.

The new regime put up as many barriers as possible to discourage Tango. In fact, a very subtle and clever attack was made specifically against the Tango during that time. There were laws banning the presence of minors in nightclubs. The laws were rigidly enforced at the Tango clubs, but not for the new Rock and Roll clubs. Overnight, young men stopped learning how to dance Tango. There was no reason to spend years learning how to dance Tango, because the girls were at Rock and Roll clubs instead. The generation that was 18 years and older learned to dance Tango quite well, while those young men five years younger never learned it at all. It may have seemed odd that such an conservative regime would encourage Rock and Roll, but it served their purposes well. Between the coup in 1955 and Rock and Roll, practically no one learned how to dance the Tango. Those who already knew it and loved it still wanted to dance, but the Tango was pushed underground.

After the fall of the military junta in 1983, a Tango Renaissance began in Buenos Aires. Some of the first teachers were not experienced in the traditional ways of Tango and these new teachers presented a different style to the dance. Gradually, the people who had been dancing in the Golden Age – who might not have danced for thirty years – began to dance again. Many developed a desire to pass on to the younger generation the dance they loved.

Today, Tango continues to evolve with such choreographers as Pilar Alvarez and Claudio Hoffman. These two found the company “Tango Express,” which has toured around the world. With the participation or Daniel Binelli, They staged their show “Tango Metropolis” in 1998. The company features some of the top Tango dancers of today.

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