Born in the steamy tropics of South America, no dance conveys more elegant passion than the Argentine Tango. Much more sensual than the American version, the Argentine Tango is a celebration of life infused with rampant sexuality that received condemnation in Buenos Aires. Labeled Dirty Dancing in the United States, the Argentine Tango was considered simply unacceptable in polite society. The version introduced in New York in 1921 by none other than the great Latin Lover of the silver screen, Rudolph Valentino, was far more tame than the version practiced South of the Border. Buenos Aires has often been called The Paris of South America because of its cosmopolitan nature. This is the land of Evita and the Peron legacy, after all. 100 years ago, the streets of Buenos Aires were filled with people who emigrated from Europe and their descendants, many of whom were homesick for their native countries. As the Europeans mixed with the native Indian populations, an influx of immigrants from Cuba and rhythmic music from Africa began to have an effect on the population that favored the polka and the waltz.
It is said that the Argentine Tango began when the gauchos (cowboys) would come to town seeking female companionship. Since their leather chaps were stiff from weeks on horseback and they walked with bent knees, the male stance was born. The women held themselves at a distance, keeping their heads back from the odor of a man who had long been out on the trail. Despite the imagery of this urban legend, it hardly seems likely that dancing with smelly male strangers could possibly give rise to such a dance of passion where bodies intertwine so freely. In fact, it is also said that the gauchos never danced the Tango.
The romantic gaucho imagery actually came from the 1926 movie, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino. Rudy played an Argentine cowboy with a whip in one hand and a carnation in his mouth, apparently because a carnation has no thorns compared to the traditional rose. The imagery created on the screen was so powerful that to this day, male Tango stars often embrace the gaucho garb. Of course, we can safely assume that Mr. Valentino had bathed. Not surprisingly, the steamy passion that is the Argentine Tango actually bubbled up from the Underworld " the seedy low-rent districts where brothels abound. It is a dance of seduction and foreplay that was considered obscene by civil society and was roundly condemned. Of course, so was the Waltz when it made its debut. Despite the graphic nature of the dance and its lurid roots, it strikes a nerve in all men and women in their very essence. The War between the sexes is a never-ending battle for love, dominance and submission in all human beings, regardless of the polite face and romantic gestures that may be overlaid upon the surface. We all crave the presence of another in our lives to desire, and be desired. As in real life, the Argentine Tango is a dance of coming together, parting ways, and rediscovering each other anew. Far more expressive and libidinous than its American cousin, the Argentine Tango consists of a freer, less structured style. The dance is driven by the hot Latin rhythm of the music, fueled by the chemistry between the two partners. Its very hard to make a mistake dancing the tango, because as Al Pacinos character explains in Scent of a Woman, You just tango on. That movie, of course, contains another famous Tango scene.
With only a few moves, you can look like an expert on the dance floor. The trick is to alter the moves as the tempo alternates between slow and fast, elegant and dramatic. This is a dance with flair. Just like dancing through life. You move as one with your partner, somewhat rigid, in unison. Then you break away, only to spin back together. You part and dance freestyle, then reunite in an intertwining embrace, legs wrapped passionately around each other. You dip, you twirl, you sweep, you glide. You move in slow, syncopated cadence, then explode in a furious flurry. This is a dance of opposites: man and woman, slow and fast, reserved and unbridled. It is the combination of these opposites that makes the Tango so much fun to watchand learnand dance.
The Argentine Tango has come a long way from the seedy underbelly of Buenos Aires to the Times Square high society of modern day New York, but its appeal is as universal as the drama of love and romance it so wonderfully represents. It is a favorite in Latin dancehalls, but will steal the show on any dance floor.
Barrida: One partner's foot sweeps the other's foot across the floor and places it without losing contact. Boleo: a circular movement of the lower leg. Follower throws or swivels one leg with the knees locked together, usually one behind the other. Colgada: The leader tilts the followers axis away from his body. Cortina: A short piece of non-tango music played as a break between two tandas (sets of tango music) during a milonga (tango dance party). The cortina lets the dancers know that the current tanda has ended and a new tanda is about to start. When the cortina is heard, the partners thank each other and return to their own table. At this time the dancers can find a new partner. The purpose of cortinas is to create a partner change break in the music, so the songs used for cortinas are not milonga dance music, but can be rock, pop, jazz, or any non-tango genre. Cortinas are used at all the milongas in Buenos Aires and occasionally at milongas outside Argentina. Cruzada: Part of the basic 8 step, where the follower steps back with the right leg, then pivots and crosses the left foot in front of the right. Enrosque: to coil or twist While the lady dances a molinete, the man pivots on his supporting foot, hooking or coiling the working leg behind or around in front of the supporting leg Gancho: a hook Hook movement that occurs when a dancer hooks a leg sharply around or between the partners leg. Giro: a turn Turning step used to circle around your partner and change direction. Milonga: Style of music and dance written in 2/4 time, a livelier tempo than a tango. Milonga: The tango dance party originating in Buenos Aires. The most common musical styles played at a milonga are tango, vals or milonga. Usually, three to five songs of a kind are played in a row (called a tanda) followed by a short musical break (called cortina) to clear the dance floor and facilitate partner changes. Milonguero (milonguera): Someone whose life revolves around tango and who goes to milongas often; typically a tango fanatic. Molinete: a windmill A figure in which the lady dances a grapevine step around the man, stepping side-back-side-forward, using forward and back ocho technique. Ocho: eight A basic tango step, called ocho because the feet of the follower mark an 8 on the floor Planeo: gliding Occurs when a dancer steps forward onto one foot, usually the left, and pivots, or is pivoted, with the other leg gliding along the floor Sacada: Displacement step Salida: departure, start, exit First steps of the dance, composed of 8 steps, known as the count of eight or basic eight. Tanda: group, batch, series A set of music, usually between three to five pieces, that is played during a milonga. Most commonly the music is a tango, a milonga or a vals. Often a cortina will be played to signal the end of a tanda. A milonga is comprised of many tandas, punctuated by cortinas. DJs arrange tandas in many different ways; by orchestra, by lyrics, by time of recording or by style of music. Sometimes also non-tango tandas are played, like Cumbia, Chacarera or Salsa. Tanguero (tanguera): A tango dancer Vals: The style of tango that is danced on waltz music: with a rhythm of one-two-three, on-two-three. Argentine waltz: Volcada: from Volcar - to tip-over or capsize; a falling step The leader causes the follower to tilt or lean forward and fall off her axis before he catches her again.
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