Tango: a dance of passion, pain and love

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

The hackneyed cliché that Argentine tango is a dance of middle-aged people, blood-red roses and fishnet stockings, has long been outdated. Today, at a tango dance evening (milonga), you can meet people of all ages and occupations: youth, retirees, programmers, businessmen, representatives of bohemians. How has this dance attracted both women and men for over a hundred years?

Music

You can compose a tango melody

with one finger, but always with a soul.

Enrique Santos Dissepolo

Many come to tango out of love for its music, which is hysterical, passionate, fraught with pain and fracture. It is no coincidence that street orchestras around the world include in their repertoire a couple of works by Piazzola, a recognized classic of tango music. After all, it is impossible to remain indifferent to his melodies, they require at least an emotional response. And as a maximum - dance: impetuous, passionate and bright. However, experienced tangueros know that you can dance not only to classical tango music, but also to many other compositions, finding and recognizing familiar notes and intonations in melodies, for example, of Nat King Cole and Jan Tiersen.

Contact

First, a man and a woman were created.

And at the same moment tango appeared, in order

so that they can understand each other in dance, song or silence.

Cesar Thiempo

"And what do you find in this tango, they just hugged and went!" - sometimes fans of spectacular dances (salsa, merengue and hustle) say. And there is some truth in this. The dance floor of an ordinary tango party does not often impress an outside observer; here you will not find throwing your legs up to the zenith and dizzying supports. However, there is enough entertainment in professional tango. It is enough to watch the performances of teachers (maestro) to be convinced of this. At shows and demonstrations, you will see a frantic pace, and spectacular supports, and the famous swift kicks. But in order to dance tango and enjoy dancing in pairs, it will be enough to know the simplest steps and decorations, feel the rhythm, be able to follow the music and listen to your partner. And, of course, to be able to hold the right hug, which determines whether the dance will take place and what it will be like.

Argentine tango is a dance of kinesthetics.

Argentine tango is a dance of kinesthetics. Let us recall the famous episode from the film "The Smell of a Woman", where the blind hero Al Pacino confidently leads a young girl in the rhythm of tango. In ordinary life, tango of ordinary mortals does not always amaze the imagination of an outside viewer, but those two who are now dancing can endlessly enjoy this dance, the synchronization and coherence of movements, the joy of mutual understanding.

Creation

Tango is one of the deepest

expressions of our personality.

Hector Basaldua

If you love creativity and impromptu, then tango is a dance for you, because it is all built on improvisation. This quality distinguishes Argentine tango from its ballroom counterpart, in which the dance pattern is more or less predetermined. In Argentine tango, everything is decided by the music and the two who dance it. At the same time, tango does not stand still and continues to develop all the time. It is no coincidence that this is why today there are so many different styles and trends in it, both classical and modern. And among the teachers, along with the famous giants with many years of experience, there are enough talented young people who bring their own tendencies and rules to this dance.

Communication

Tango is natural

expression of a big city.

Astor Piazolla

Another undoubted plus of tango is its social component. Tango is your new foreign language, sect membership and mafia clan at the same time. Having mastered tango, you become a full member of the international tango community. And this means new acquaintances and expanding the circle of friends, the ability to always easily find new friends on travel, to get to know any city from its dancing side, to be initiated among your own.

Tango is your new foreign language, sect membership and mafia clan at the same time.

Music, hugs, a new circle of acquaintances, the opportunity to abandon routine, craving for creativity and love of dancing attract new adherents to tango. Some come to classes twice a week in the evenings and rejoice at this outlet, others - by all means get out to dance during the week, and still others - disappear at the milongas all evenings. And the fourth just live in the rhythm of tango, planning a vacation for the next tango festival and at least once a year, by all means stopping by Buenos Aires. Once you realize that tango is your dance, it will be very difficult for you to free yourself from it. As with any real passion. And is it necessary?..