I made this blog about the tango for my Spanish class that deals with music and how it crosses borders. I hope you learn to love the tango like I have!
“Tango is a dance, music and poetry that originated in Buenos Aires at the turn of the century, developing in the melting pot of cultures that was Buenos Aires.” [1]
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of tango is passion and drama. The two go hand in hand because in a performance you have to show passion in the drama. And also, if you lack passion there is most likely not going to be drama, at least in everyday life. Both work off of each other much like the dancers must work with the music and with the other dancer.
The tango is a very sensual dance and music style that originates in the 1890’s from the Río de la Plata which is the border that separates Argentina and Uruguay. The lower class people of Buenos Aires and Montevideo who were former slaves invented it. Since Buenos Aires is considered the “Europe” of South America the music comes from a fusion of different styles from Europe which leads to many different types of tangos. [2]
In my Spanish class we have talked about how music and artists have crossed borders. The tango is exactly this. It is a mixture of all different cultures becoming one. The people who invented the tango had to cross physical borders and barriers like oceans in order to arrive in Buenos Aires. Since then, the tango has infatuated people from Paris to New York to China. Now, people from all over the world meet in the original origins of the tango in Buenos Aires to compete for a dancing championship. Not only has the tango crossed borders but it brings people together from different places.
Before the well known dance of tango there was the music. First, there was the orquesta típica which included violins, piano, bass, guitar, and most importantly the bandoneon. The bandoneon is what gives the tango its sound. It is originally from Germany where it was played in churches but made its way to Argentina along with its immigrants. [1]
This picture depicts the sensual dance of the tango along with
the bandoneon which is a key element in tango music.
With the globalization of the tango, the meanings of the songs changed from poor street life of Buenos Aires to love. The sound also changed to add a more jazzy sound as artists traveled to other countries and fused them. The Golden Age of Tango was from 1935 through the 40s where the tango was at its highest. Artists like Juan D’Arienzo and Rodolfo Biagi came about and took the tango world by storm with their new electric rhythm that packed the dance floors. But in the late 1940s the tango musicians just wanted to play for records and concerts, not to please the dancers. Also, in 1955 the Peronist government banned the tango because they wanted to bring in music from other countries like rock and roll. People were not even allowed to dance the tango without being imprisoned so the tango faded fast.
Astor Piazzola started as a bandoneonista born in Argentina and moved to the U.S. In 1946 he started his own orchestra and made arrangements that had elements of tango and jazz but much faster. This is what is called the Tango Nuevo. Piazzolla wanted his music to be listened to not danced to but when it hit Buenos Aires people were mad. They said that it was too different from the tango and you could not dance to it which Piazzolla knew. Piazzolla is the most popular modern tango artist especially for the creation of the Tango Nuevo.
After the fall of the Argentine government in 1983 the tango came back into action. In that same year, a hit show called Tango Argentino premiered which made people fall in love with the tango again. People who had not danced it in thirty years began to dance again along with the younger generation who wanted to connect with their culture and learn the lost dance. Today, there are radio stations that just play tango music. New tango artists are mainly influenced Piazzolla but for the people that want to dance the tango want to look into the Golden Age of tango.[2 for all info after [1] click here ]
I found this paragraph on a great website which I have referenced on this blog before. It is an amazing website that is full of information about the tango and how it came about but this quote says everything. I tried to think of a way to paraphrase it but I think it needs all the parts to relay the message. It is a perfect explanation between the music of tango and the dance.
“Different tango music tends to suggest different styles of dance when we hear it. Although many of the dance styles that were original danced when it was compose are now lost, with our mixed and reinvented tango we are able to interpret it. Some music suggests the use of cortes 'cuts' that reflect its strong rhythm, others are most flowing, while still others are full of tensions and accelerations. In the end it is up to the couple how they dance, but it is important , and more interesting to really listen to the music, and not just dance the way same all the time.”[1]
"Behind every great love is a great story [3]." Carlos Gardel is the legendary man behind the tango. He had a love for music and Buenos Aires where the tango originated so it is safe to say that Gardel is the love that sparked the tango. He is legendary to this day in Buenos Aires where he was raised. Gardel is an idol to many because he was an immigrant from France who worked in an opera house and sang in local bars to get noticed. He learned to sing by working at the opera house where he learned Spanish opperettas and the folkloric music of Argentina’s country side called criolla.
Gardel’s first song that he recorded is called “Mi Noche Triste.” It is a song about rejection but it also reveals how Buenos Aires was during this time. Before Mi Noche Triste, all other tango music was instrumental. Once he came out with this song, everyone started writing poetry for tangos. Gardel's romantic music and graceful style are what makeup of every tango musician after him.
The statue of Gardel
in Buenos Aires
Gardel is the reason why the tango is known all over the world. He change the bad connotation it once had for being the poor man’s dance to being fashionable in Europe. In 1910 through World War I, Gardel traveled all over the world introducing the tango and everyone fell in love with it. With it’s popularity, Argentina started to become very rich so the songs changed from being about poor immigrants to love and romance which is what we think goes along with the tango today.
Gardel is still a legend through out the tango world. Unfortunately, he died in a tragic plane crash in 1935 in Africa. But his style and work are what inspired artists like Juan D’Arienzo in the Golden Age of Tango in the 40s and 50s. Gardel not only came from Italy to Argentina but he traveled country to country throughout the world to introduce the tango. Now, people all over the world pay tributes to him and his music which keeps his legend going.[1][2]
This video is of Carlos Gardel's song "Mi Buenos Aires Querido." The music was written by him and the lyrics were written by Alfredo Le Pera in 1934. The song is about a love for a women but how the city of Buenos Aires buries that pain away. So to me it is an anthem to their beloved city while still in the tango genre speaking about love and sorrow.
"Mi Buenos Aires querido...
cuando yo te vuelva a ver...
no habra más penas ni olvido..."
Which translates to:
"My beloved Buenos Aires,
the day I see you again, there will be no more sorrow or forgetfulness"
Click here to see the rest of the lyrics and translation.
When I think of the tango, I think of a women wearing a red dress with a rose in her mouth entranced by the man leading her around the dance floor. I know I am not the only one who thinks this either. Most people do not know the difference between the tango from the salsa from the rumba. I am going to try and clarify what the tango dance is exactly.
Before you can start dancing the dance you need to get the embrace correct. The tango is a closed embrace meaning the leads right hand is on the follower left shoulder blade and left hand on their side while holding the followers right hand. The followers left hand is placed half way down on the leads right arm. This seems to the audience that the arm is resting on the other but there is really no weight distributed.
¡A bailar! The simplest way to remember the basic tango steps is through the acronym T-A-N-G-O.
T (slow): the lead steps forward with the left foot, the follow mirrors by stepping back with the right.
A(slow): the lead steps forward with the right foot, mirrored again by the follow's right.
N (quick): the lead steps forward again with the left, a slightly smaller step, preparing to step to the side with the right.
G (quick): the lead steps to the right with the right foot, using a technique known as "collecting" the foot. This simply means that the right foot comes up alongside the left before stepping to the right, and doesn't move in the diagonal.
O (slow): probably the most sultry step in the basic, this is a slow almost-drag of the left foot towards the right, ready to begin the basic again. For the follow, it's the joining of the right foot to the left with a slow, deliberate motion.
(For all information on learning the basic steps of the tango click here)
Slow...slow...quick-quick-slow…
This is a short video of how to dance the basic steps of tango. It reinforces and demonstrates the steps explained above.
The tango is danced throughout the entire world so it has crossed over many physical borders. But the people who are dancing the tango are crossing another type of metaphorical border. In order to dance with another person in this way with such passion you need to trust them and give everything you have to them. You are no longer just thinking about yourself but another person and how they feel in that moment. You’re physically moving around the room but also leaving the borders of your body and entering theirs.
There have been many movies made that are strictly about the tango but I want to focus on movies that have it incorporated into it which means that the main plot is not about the tango itself. In the past decade there have been several, including Chicago (2002), Shall We Dance (2004), Rent (2005), and Take the Lead (2006) [1]. All of these movies and musicals are about dancing and they mix in the tango into the storyline which means that the tango is one of the most prevalent dance styles. The first movie that actually came to my mind is RENT which first was a Tony award winning musical [2]There is a song called the Tango Maureen where Mark and Joanna talk about Maureen who Mark used to date and who Joanne is dating now. Halfway through the song, Mark hits his head and seems to go into a “dream” where he sees Maureen dancing the tango with another man.
First, the tango is danced with the man leading the entire time. When Mark and Joanne dance it starts off with Mark leading but then they switch because Joanne, being a lesbian, has also learned how to dance the tango by leading. Mark makes a comment about how hard it is to dance backward and Joanne comes back at him with “you should try it in heels.” I find it funny because it is stereotypical of the women dancing in heels being the follower. Also, men just assume that being the follower is easy because you do not have to think about the next step to take but this is simply not true. Mark now sees what it is like to be on the other side and see a women's perspective.
Second, the scene with Maureen dancing the tango with all the other couples dancing behind her is very stereotypical of the tango because she is the only women wearing a red dress which makes herstand out. She also has a flower in her hair which is also another stereotype seen in the tango. The scene is very well made and choreographed based on the steps of the dance.
Lastly, I want to talk about the music behind the Tango Maureen. In the scene with Maureen you can clearly hear the original tango music. The lyrics also go along with the real tango because it is about love. These lyrics are about how they were betrayed by Maureen and yet they can not give up on her love.I want to analyze some of the lyrics toward the end of the song because they do relate to the tango and I find them very comical. Mark and Joanne sing,“You pretend to believe her 'cause in the end-you can't leave her.” This is talking about how even though Maureen betrayed them, they can not be without her and still love her no matter what. Most tango songs are about love and how they can not live without another person or how they have lost their lover and want them back which this song is basically emphasizing. But this next line is one of my favorites, “So you think, might as well...Dance a tango to hell. At least I'll have tangoed at all.”(All lyrics came from here) I love them because they are a spin off of the saying “it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.” It is just a fun way to play on words while still incorporating the tango genre.
By showing the tango in movies that are not necessarily about the tango shows its diversity. Not only can the tango be danced in clubs in Buenos Aires in the early 1900s but it can make its way to the big screen in the 21st century. This shows how it has crossed generations from being danced by poor people in the streets to being the sexy and passionate dance that we all see today in major motion pictures like Rent.
As I was researching the tango I started to realize that a lot of the songs had a common theme: A Love Triangle. I first started to realize this in the song "Tango Maureen" from Rent but it was more of a betrayal they both faced with the same women but they still loved her anyways. Then I came across the song "Objection (Tango)" by Shakira. Take a look at the music video:
In the beginning it is evident that they are dancing the tango to the traditional tango music, they even show a bandoneón, but then the music picks up and becomes the actual song and Shakira starts dancing like Shakira does. It is funny because it is a spin off Rudolph Valenino's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse tango scene. Click here to see the full video.
The lyrics also incorporate aspects of the tango because it is a song about being cheated on but still wanting to love the man that cheated on her but she doesn't know if she can, much like in the "Tango Maureen." She sings "I'm tired of this triangle, Got dizzy dancing tango."Which makes sense because there is a lot of spinning around when dancing. It also says "Tango is not for three, Was never meant to be." [1]It is known that there is no room in love for three people and this song and the "Tango Maureen" emphasize that. But why do both songs talk about the tango like it is with three people?
There is another less known genre of tango called “fusion tango” which does involve three people. It came about fairly recently in 2000 by Sandra Antognazzi. She combined the original Argentine Tango with modern dance. It takes the original romance from the tango and pushes it a little further by adding another dancer, or "character", into the mix with more seduction and it makes for very unexpected ending [2]. I tried looking up her version of the tango that she has choreographed but since it is so new there was not much. Here is a clip from the movie Take the Lead that has a type of "fusion" 3-person tango:
It is amazing where your mind can take you when you start thinking about a topic. I starting putting clues of songs together and found out about an entirely new genre of dance. It goes with out saying that one thing does lead to another. Although neither of these songs are the traditional "love triangle" they do deal with being betrayed in love and trying to win another person over romantically which is what a lot of tango songs are about. It is crazy when you think about how most things are all linked to or related to each other in some way.
Old fashion tango music is still played on radio stations around the world. But the generations growing up now are not the ones listening to it. They are listening to the new genres of tango called tango electrónico and alternative tango. Tango electrónico is a mixture of the traditional tango music and techno music. [1] Where as alternative tango can be any type of music that has a tango rhythm in the background or one could dance the tango to it. This makes for a much broader category.
I am very interested in the tango electrónico because this is a completely new style of music that people in France, Argentina, and Uruguay created. This makes a lot of sense because these are the cultures that embraced the original tango so closely. There is not that much information on this genre because it is very new and not that popular. One of the most successful tango electrónico bands is Gotan project. The band consists of two Frenchmen, Philippe Cohel Solal and Christoph H. Mueller, and Eduardo Makaroff from Buenos Aires [2]. They pride themselves on the fact that they stick to their roots and folkloric rhythms and have created a new "world music."They were heavily influenced by Astor Piazzolla and the bandoneón which is the traditional sound in the tango. Not only have they created a new genre of music but they continue to add to the mixing of cultures and crossing borders by collaborating with different DJs[3]. Here is a video of one of their most famous songs called "Santa María." You can hear the mixture of the traditional tango with the techno.
The alternative tango genre is completely different than anything tango. I am still confused as to why it is even considered in the tango genre. I found this when I was researching:
"Music that was not originally conceived as tango music but has all the ingredients for dancing tango to it, is usually referred to as Alternative Tango. Different people interpret this in different ways, depending on how far you are willing to depart from the mantra that tango music must be from the 1940s and from Argentina. What every alternative song should have is a consistent danceable beat and the right tango atmosphere, the rest is up to your imagination. [4]"
Basically, it is not necessarily about the music but about being able to dance the tango to the music. With every genre and every song it really comes down to your personal interpretation. So if you hear a song and think you could be able to dance the tango to it then it can be considered alternative tango. This website gives a lot of modern day songs that can be categorized as alternative like "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys and "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye. But the list also includes some oldies like "Cheek to Cheek" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong and of course "Luna" by Mercedes Sosa. Below is a music video to the song Skyscrapers by OK Go. The couple dances the tango in and out of the scene which is very creative along with the changing colors of the background and wardrobe. This is just one of thousands examples of how one can dance the tango to any song that they want to.
These two new genres show how all music is collaborating now to become something else. It seems that there are no limits to where creativity, music, and dance can go. You do not need a traditional tango song to dance the tango and I think it makes it more fun to dance such a popular ballroom dance style to music that is not from the same time period. It allows the dancers to interpret the dance and music differently and however they want to. Music changes so quickly now a days that you need to come up with ways to keep people interested in your music. Bands like the Gotan project are doing this bey going back to their roots and putting their own spin on it. Who said history could not repeat itself in a new and inventive way?
