Tango...
deepest dance in the world
Buenos Aires is the birthplace of tango and what identifies best the Porteños or people from the port, as natives of the city are called.
Buenos Aires: Tango in San Telmo - © Secretariat of Tourism Buenos Aires
It's rooted in Argentina society and everybody from the intellectual to the suburban speak and feel the language of tango.
It's also an expression of romance, mood and emotion, is pride and arrogance, sad and nostalgic.
A silent, intimate dialog between dancers.
Provably the most sensual dance ever...Born during 19th. century in the brothels and lower-class districts of Buenos Aires - particularly in the neighborhood of Montserrat - spread among the working-class slums, Black population and European migrants, and became popular throughout society.
Danced its way to Europe in the early years of 20th. century, when orchestras and dancers traveled to Paris. London followed and then Berlin, Finland, USA and the world at large.
Went as far as Japan, where it has many followers, schools, clubs, singers and orchestras devoted to it.
Buenos Aires: Tango in La Boca - © Secretariat of Tourism Buenos Aires
There are several styles...
- canyengue
- liso
- orillero
- milongero
- apilado
- fantasia
- stage (escenario)
- ballroom dance
The Argentine approach is without doubt the best tango music ever made, and nothing characterizes it more than a "bandoneon", the musical instrument through which gets played.
Tango is feeling... sentiment...
Let us quote the description of this beautiful documentary film called Subtango, the Spirit of Tango, done by Sofia Vaccaro in 2000...
"Even after a century of history,the enshrinement as the national music, after rampant commercialization and packaging for export, the tango still speaks to the Argentine soul.
Subtango shows how tango music, dance, art and poetry are an essential part of the emotional expression of regular people, featuring the gamblers, ramblers and barroom prophets of the Buenos Aires night, playing weather-beaten accordions and singing old tangos of heartbreak and resentment.
Through interviews with the citizens of this subterranean world, the film expands on the tango’s lugubrious aesthetic, the origins of its melodramatic lyrics in the laments of alienated immigrants, the sensuality and profound communication of its dance.
The film explores the faded old bars where the nightcrawlers of Buenos Aires come to dance and drink amidst the peeling paint and thick clouds of smoke.
Subtango is a portrait of that world of tango that lies closest to the true meaning of what tango is in Argentina".
So in your next trip to Buenos Aires don't miss a good diner-show or even take a few lessons in one of the many academies and clubs scattered around the city.
For the best shows in town, check some of this...
- Esquina Carlos Gardel:
Carlos Gardel 3200, Almagro - Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Phone: 4867-6363 - Esquina Homero Manzi:
Av. San Juan 3601, Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Phone: 4957-8488 - Malevaje:
Venezuela 2939 , Balvanera - Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Phone: (011) 4957-2823 - Señor Tango:
Vieytes 1655, Barracas - Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Phone: 4303-0231 - La Ventana:
Balcarce 431 - San Telmo, San Telmo - Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Phone: 433-0217 / 8689
Buenos Aires: Bandoneon - © Secretariat of Tourism Buenos Aires
Let's Tango!!
You too can dance your way through Buenos Aires...
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