Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When did the Tango dance develop?
Tango is a popular partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the River Plate (Río de Plata), the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. It was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries, where natives mixed with slave and European immigrant populations.[2] The tango is the result of a combination of the German Waltz, Czech Polka, Polish Mazurka, and Bohemian Schottische with the Spanish-Cuban Habanera, African Candombe, and Argentinian Milonga.[3] The tango was frequently practiced in the brothels and bars of ports, where business owners employed bands to entertain their patrons with music.[4] The tango then spread to the rest of the world.[5] Many variations of this dance currently exist around the world.
Ballroom tango steps were standardized by dance studios. The steps have been relatively fixed in style for decades. However, Argentine tango has been an evolving dance and musical form, with continual changes occurring every day on the social dance floor in Argentina and in major tango centers elsewhere in the world. Argentine tango dance is, still based heavily on improvisation. While there are patterns or sequences of steps that are used by instructors to teach the dance, even in a sequence every movement is led not only in direction but also speed and quality (a step can be smooth, pulsing, sharp, ... etc.). Although Argentine tango evolves mostly on the dance floor, the government of Argentina does host an annual competition of Argentine tango dance in Buenos Aires, attracting competitors from around the world.
While Argentine tango dancing has historically been danced to tango music, such as that produced by such orchestra leaders as Osvaldo Pugliese, Carlos di Sarli, Juan d'Arienzo, in the '90s a younger generation of tango dancers began dancing tango steps to alternatives to tango music; music from other genres like, "world music", "electro-tango", "experimental rock", "trip hop", and "blues", to name a few. Tango nuevo dance is often associated with alternative music, see nuevo tango, but it can be danced to tango as well.
Ballroom tango, divided in recent decades into the "International" (Yogita) and "European" styles, has descended from the tango styles that developed when the tango first went abroad to Europe and North America. The dance was simplified, adapted to the preferences of conventional ballroom dancers, and incorporated into the repertoire used in International Ballroom dance competitions. English tango was first codified in October 1922, when it was proposed that it should only be danced to modern tunes, ideally at 30 bars per minute (i.e. 120 beats per minute – assuming a 4 4 measure).
"Tango Salon" does not refer to a single specific way of dancing tango. Rather, it is literally tango as it is danced socially in the salons (dance halls) of Buenos Aires. Salon tango was danced throughout the Golden Era of Argentine Tango (1935–1952) when milongas (tango parties) were held in large dance venues and full tango orchestras performed. Salon tango is often characterized by slow, measured, and smoothly executed moves, never moving against the line-of-dance, and respecting the space of other dancers on the floor around them. The emphasis is on precision, smoothness, musicality, good navigation, and following the "códigos" (tango etiquette) of the salons. The couple embraces closely, with some variants having a flexible embrace, opening slightly to make room for various figures and closing again for support and poise. The walk is the most important element, and dancers usually walk 60%-70% of the time during a tango song.
The tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras of Argentina as well as in other locations around the world. The dance developed in response to many cultural elements, such as the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. The styles are mostly danced in either open embrace, where lead and follow have space between their bodies, or close embrace, where the lead and follow connect either chest-to-chest (Argentine tango) or in the upper thigh, hip area (American and International tango).
Milonguero-style tango, also known as "estilo milonguero" (in Buenos Aires, known by name "Estilo del centro" because it originates from downtown milongas where dance floors were crowded) or "apilado" (piled up, stacked), is a close-embrace style of social tango dancing in which the focus is inward and the leg and arm movements are kept small. The style developed from and is appropriate to crowded dance floors. The term was coined by Buenos Aires-born tango dancer Susana Miller in the 1990s in the process of teaching others the kind of inwardly focused tango dancing that was practiced by veteran dancers in the social dance venues of central Buenos Aires, differentiating it from the more pronounced movements of outer Buenos Aires and other less crowded milongas, and especially to separate it from choreographed stage tango.
Argentine tango dancing consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras and in response to the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. It is danced in an embrace that can vary from very open, in which the dancers connect at arms length, to very closed, in which the connection is chest-to-chest, or anywhere in between. Styles of dance are "not predefined" by the embrace itself and many figures of tango salon style are danced in an open embrace, it is also possible to dance tango nuevo in close V-shape embrace. The milonguero (apilado) style is an exception; its close embrace without V-shape and emphasis on maintaining this embrace throughout the dance predetermines range of possible movements and their shape.
The term was used from the 1870s to mark a man who spent much of his time dancing tango of any style. Since the early 20th century the term referred to a man immersed in the tango culture specific to Buenos Aires. A milonguero frequented dance halls, dancing to the music of tango, milonga and vals. Such a man was "raised and groomed on tango" and his "reverence for the dance and its traditions" strongly influenced the way he danced. The term "milonguero" was used by "others" to distinguish a skilled and courteous dancer, not a term for oneself. After the 1955 coup ousted Juan Perón in Argentina, the tango was repressed, a sort of "dark age" for tango dancing, ending in 1983.
Though widely referred to as a tango style outside of Argentina, "Tango Nuevo" is not considered a style of dancing tango by the founders of the movement. It refers only to the method of analysis and teaching developed through the application of the principles of dance kinesiology to Argentine Tango. In 2009, Gustavo Naveira published an essay "New Tango" in which he states, ""There is great confusion on the question of the way of dancing the tango: call it technique, form, or style. The term "tango nuevo", is used to refer to a style of dancing, which is an error. In reality, tango nuevo is everything that has happened with the tango since the 1980s. It is not a question of a style... The words "tango nuevo" express what is happening with tango dancing in general; namely that it is evolving."" Therefore, as the Gustavo Naveira and other founders of the "Tango Nuevo" movement have said, all styles of tango, which have now been influenced by the analysis of the dance, are all "Tango Nuevo".
Argentine tango music is much more varied than ballroom tango music. A large amount of tango music has been composed by a variety of different orchestras over the last century. Not only is there a large volume of music, there is a breadth of stylistic differences between these orchestras as well, which makes it easier for Argentine tango dancers to spend the whole night dancing only Argentine tango. The four representative schools of the Argentine tango music are Di Sarli, d'Arienzo, Troilo and Pugliese, all four descendent from Italian immigrant families. They are dance orchestras, playing music for dancing. When the spirit of the music is characterized by counterpoint marking, clarity in the articulation is needed. It has a clear, repetitive pulse or beat, a strong tango-rhythm which is based on the 2x4, 2 strong beats on 4 (dos por cuatro). Ástor Piazzolla stretched the classical harmony and counterpoint and moved the tango from the dance floor to the concert stage. His compositions tell us something of our contemporary life and dancing it relates much to modern dance.
Tango orillero refers to the style of dance that developed away from the town centers, in the outskirts and suburbs where there was more freedom due to more available space on the dance floor. The style is danced in an upright position and uses various embellishments including rapid foot moves, kicks, and even some acrobatics, though this is a more recent development.
Even though the present forms developed in Argentina and Uruguay from the mid 19th century, there are earlier written records of Tango dances in Cuba and Spain, while there is a flamenco Tangos dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance. All sources stress the influence of the African communities and their rhythms, while the instruments and techniques brought in by European immigrants played a major role in its final definition, relating it to the Salon music styles to which Tango would contribute back at a later stage, when it became fashionable in early 20th century Paris.
The maxixe (), occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music (often played as a subgenre of choro), that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay. It is a dance developed from Afro-Brazilian dances (mainly the lundu) and from European dances (mainly the polka).
The tango historian Alberto Paz credits "Tango Argentino" with the world-wide revival of Argentine tango:Tango Argentino appeared for the first time on an international stage at the Paris Autumn Festival, which began on November 11, 1983. That run lasted one week, but those few days were enough to change history: the tango as dance resurfaced with an unexpected force, and became huge around the world. There has never been a time in history when so many social dancers are dancing Argentine tango as it was danced in the golden years of the 1940s and ’50s.In the epilogue of his book "Inside Tango Argentino," Antón Gazenbeek observes that the lure of the production was its "humanity:" The average age of the dancers in the original "Tango Argentino" was 42 years. When the audience watched a large male dancer, such as Verulazo, dance the tango, their reaction was, "I can do that." They were pulled into the show.
Neotango dance is not tango nuevo. The term "tango nuevo" has been used in dance every time an Argentinian tango teacher came out saying he was teaching a new dancing style. For example, the term was used to refer to the tango of the old "Petroleo" around 1940, as well as around 1990-2000 when some Argentinian teachers promoted out-of-axis dynamics in their seminars around the world.
Though widely referred to as a tango style outside of Argentina, Tango Nuevo is not considered a style of dancing tango by the founders of the movement. It refers only to the method of analysis and teaching developed through the application of the principles of dance kinesiology to Argentine Tango. In 2009, Gustavo Naveira published an essay New Tango in which he states, "There is great confusion on the question of the way of dancing the tango: call it technique, form, or style. The term Tango Nuevo, is used to refer to a style of dancing, which is an error. In reality, Tango Nuevo is everything that has happened with the tango since the 1980s. It is not a question of a style... The words Tango Nuevo express what is happening with tango dancing in general; namely that it is evolving." Therefore, as Gustavo Naveira and the other founders of the Tango Nuevo movement have said, all styles of tango, which have now been influenced by the analysis of the dance, are all Tango Nuevo.
Nuevo tango is either a form of music in which new elements are incorporated into traditional tango music, or an evolution of tango dance that began to develop in the 1980s.
The concept of "Tango Argentino" was to present the history of tango through its music, song and dance. With the many dance styles among the cast members, each couple was given the flexibility to do much of their own choreography. One problem was that there are no videos of the early 20th century dancers. When trying to choreograph the beginnings of tango dance, Segovia and the dancers took original still photographs from the early days of tango and laid them out in such an order as to allow them to recreate the original dance of the time. Thus audiences were able to visualize the evolution of Argentine tango as both music and dance.
The Tango's frame, called an abrazo or "embrace", is not rigid, but flexibly adjusts to different steps, and may vary from being quite close, to offset in a "V" frame, to open. The flexibility is as important as is all movement in dance. The American Ballroom Tango's frame is flexible too, but experienced dancers frequently dance in closed position: higher in the elbows, tone in the arms and constant connection through the body. When dancing socially with a beginners, however, it may be better to use a more open position because the close position is too intimate for them. In American Tango open position may result in open breaks, pivots, and turns which are quite foreign in Argentine tango and International (English) tango.
The Queer Tango movement breaks these rigid heteronormative gender roles of the tango world and permits all the permutations of partnering within tango. Same-sex tangoing is frequent: men dance with men, women dance with women, who can lead or follow. Also men dance with women, exploring open role reverse. The term "queer", commonly used as a synonym for the LGBT community, is used here in a larger sense. A "queer" tango dancer shifts the focus from sexuality to gender which allows to enhance his expressiveness by way of role exchange. Therefore, the Queer Tango scene gives not only a home to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex "tangueras" and "tangueros" (tango dancers), where they can feel comfortable. It creates a liberated tango environment for gender-neutral dancing, where rules and codes of traditional tango no longer restrain communication between people. By way of "queer" tango teaching, heterosexuals dancers can learn the open role reverse and enhance their competences in tango:
Argentine tango had a huge revival outside of Argentina beginning in 1983 with the success of tango stage productions, such as "Tango Argentino," "Forever Tango," and "Tango x 2,". These popular stage productions encouraged many people to seek out tango dance lessons. In contrast to these stage productions, however; the social tango that Argentines dance in the salons (dance halls) is very different from the acrobatic dance that is often performed on stage. Alberto Paz was one of those Argentines. who taught Argentine tango as a social dance, introducing the dance style of the Buenos Aires tango salons to the world. Alberto and his wife and partner Valorie Hart through their writing and teaching had a strong impact on the growth of salon tango. The following quote from Alberto's tango magazine "El Firulete" is typical of his position:
Argentine tango dancing in the UK began in the early 1990s in response to the hugely popular internationally touring shows "Forever Tango" and "Tango Argentino". Enthusiastic Anglo-Argentine milonguero (dance hall tango dancer) Andrew Potter who had followed "Forever Tango" to London and stayed for its extensive run, got together with some Londoner friends to start the city's first ever tango milonga (tango dance party/hall) in The London Welsh Centre at 157,Grays Inn Road, known as "Tango The Argentine Way" which would pack out every Friday night. From that moment, the tango dances and classes proliferated throughout the Capital and then throughout the rest of the UK.
Argentine tango dancing consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras, and in response to the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. Even though the present forms developed in Argentina and Uruguay, they were also exposed to influences re-imported from Europe and North America. There are records of 18th and early 19th century tango styles in Cuba and Spain, while there is a flamenco tangos dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance. Consequently, there is a good deal of confusion and overlap between the styles as they are now danced - and fusions continue to evolve.
By the mid-1970s, Copes and Nieves had been dancing tango together most of their lives. They had begun in a working class dance hall in 1940s Buenos Aires when they were in their teens. By the late 1950s, interest in tango had begun to wane due in part to a regressive government that discouraged public gatherings and later due to the cultural phenomenon of the Beatles. Copes had such a love for the dance, that he decided he would not accept the death of tango. Being a lover of Gene Kelly’s dance films, he decided in 1955 to do something similar with tango. He began to rehearse tango choreographies, together with Maria Nieves and other tango dancers in the basement of a factory. Their shows soon became popular in Buenos Aires. 