What is Argentine tango?

It is difficult to say when exactly and why was tango born, yet, almost all the studies have shown that tango was born at the end of 19th Century in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

By that time, the music was played mainly with 3 instruments: flute, guitar and violin. The bandonéon, nowadays the most popular instrument, was not played until the beginning of 20th Century. First tangos are believed to be popular tunes and since their authors rarely could read or write music, we often cannot identify t he composers. It is also difficult if not impossible to find the origin of the word “tango”. Some say it’s because the Africans couldn’t pronounce the word “tambor” and said “tangó” instead; some say it was the word to describe some black festive parties.

Today, after some breaks and pauses, tango has become again one of the most popular dance all over the world. Buenos Aires, Berlin and London are full of tangoclubs, tangofans are meeting everywhere in the world to dance in milongas - special tango dance evenings.
The music has changed, too. Besides the traditional tangos, the new fashion is “tangonuevo”, improvisational and jazzy.

Posted by admin at Thursday ~ January 01, 2007 |

Category: Uncategorized