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TANGO

Tango, Argentine dance and musical genre, rooted in a combination of African, European, and native Argentine music and dance traditions.Often referred to by Argentines as "a sad feeling that can be danced," the tango has become one of the most popular dance and musical forms worldwide. As a dance, the tango requires a couple to be chest-to-chest, in a tight embrace. As a musical form, tango has evolved from improvised dance pieces of the mid- to late 19th century – often performed by black and mulatto instrumentalists – to the modern nuevo tango compositions of the late Argentine musician Astor Piazzolla.

The black community of Buenos Aires played an indirect but significant role in the creation of the tango. By the mid-19th century, nearly a quarter of Buenos Aires's inhabitants were black, owing to the city's role as a port of entry for the slave trade in the previous century. Argentine blacks, who resided in poor neighborhoods, succeeded in preserving their culture through community events such as dance and music festivals. The most popular Afro-Argentine dance was the candombe, which fused syncopated rhythms and improvised steps from various African traditions. According to the early Argentine scholar of tango, Jose Gobello, the candombe was the precursor of the tango.

Gobello suggests that contact between Afro-Argentines and the compadritos – poor urban street roughs, who recalled in their behavior and dress the 19th-century gaucho, or Argentine cowboy – gave rise to the tango at a late 1870s dance venue. Many of the early tango musicians were Afro-Argentine: the noted pianist Rosendo Mendizabal played a central role in the development of tango music, while Sebastian Ramos Mejia became the first notable player of the bandoneon – an accordion-like instrument of German origin that later became fundamental to tango music.

The Argentine historian Ricardo Rodriguez Molas contends that the word "tango," which in certain African languages means "closed place" or "reserved ground," is likely to be of African origin. Other scholars have traced the word back to the Latin verb tangere, meaning to touch; they believe that African slaves might have picked up the word "tango" from their European captors. In many parts of Latin America, "tango" came to connote a place where blacks, both free and enslaved, gathered together to dance; while in Argentina, "tango" came to be associated with black dances in general. "It was in this sense," notes Collier, "that the word eventually reached Spain, as a name for African-American or African-influenced dances of transatlantic provenance."

Before World War II, the tango was developed in dance halls, cafes, and brothels in the working-class barrios (districts) of Argentina's major cities. By 1913 the tango had become popular among the Argentine middle classes, who contributed to the development of a tango craze in Europe and Russia. Since the golden age of tango in the 1920s, tango music and dance have continued to gain popularity worldwide.

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What is it ‘tango’?

2. As a dance, what does tango require?

3. As a musical form, what has tango evolved from?

4. Who played the significant role in the creation of the tango?

5. What musical instrument became fundamental to tango music?

6. How many versions about the origin of the word ‘tango’ are there?

7. How can you describe this style of dancing ‘tango’?

8. Is it popular in our country?

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 833