Tango dance and tango music originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata. They later spread to the rest of the world. Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine tango, Uruguayan tango, and Ballroom tango (American and International styles). What some consider to be the authentic tango is that closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay, though some other types of tango have developed into dances in their own right.
Tango is a dance that has cultural influences from Europe and Africa. Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the modern day tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The word "tango" seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European. immigrants.
In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York.
In 2009, Argentina and Uruguay suggested that the Tango be inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists and in the same year UNESCO approved it.
"Por una cabeza" interpretado por Carlos Gardel, tango, 1935
Tango (Carlos Saura, 1998), con creografia de Ana María Stekelman
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| Julio Bocca y Carlos Rivarola dancing Piazzolla's "Otoño Porteño." |
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| Ibid. |
