1/3/2018 Tango Dance: Definition, Styles, and Techniques

Arts, Music, and Recreation › Performing Arts

All About the Tango

A Popular Dance and an Expressive Form of Art

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1/3/2018 Tango Dance: Definition, Styles, and Techniques

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1/3/2018 Tango Dance: Definition, Styles, and Techniques

David Sanger/Digital Vision/Getty Images

by Treva Bedinghaus
Updated September 03, 2017

One of the most fascinating of all dances, the tango is a sensual ballroom dance that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina in
the early twentieth century. The tango dance is usually performed by a man and a woman, expressing an element of romance
in their synchronized movements. Originally, the tango was performed only by women, but once it spread beyond Buenos
Aires, it developed into a dance for couples.

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1/3/2018 Tango Dance: Definition, Styles, and Techniques

TANGO HISTORY AND POPULARITY

Early tango styles greatly influenced the ways in which we dance today, and tango music has become one of the greatest of all
music genres throughout the world. Spanish settlers were the first to introduce the tango to the New World. Ballroom tango
originated in working-class Buenos Aires and the dance spread quickly through Europe during the 1900's, then moved
on to the United States. In 1910, tango began gaining popularity in New York.

Tango has become very popular in recent years, as evidenced by the various movies developed around the dance. Several films
showcase the tango, such as Scent of a Woman, Take the Lead, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, True Lies, Shall We Dance, and Frida.

TANGO MUSIC
Argentine tango shares working class origins with American jazz that quickly attracted the interest of classical composers and
folk composers who elevated their art. For most Americans, Astor Piazzolla best exemplifies this duality.

Piazzolla's tango innovations were at first derided by tango purists who hated the way Piazzolla incorporated non-tango
musical elements in his compositions. This is a battle that the jazz police and jazz fusion listeners are still waging in the U.S,
however, Piazzolla eventually won out. His tangos have been recorded by the Kronos Quartet, who were early advocates, and
some of the world's great orchestras.

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