opendoor
Forum Master
source http://thestudyofracialism.org/about1836.html
CHINESE ORIGIN OF TANGO
My friend Dr. Ramon Sison of Beverly Hills requested that I post
his dissertation on the origin of the tango in China.
Also, earlier, Ramon gave permission for its publication in
El Firulete.
Ramon and his wife Rosario (Charito) are both physicians and are
avid tangueros. Also, they have organized a group of
physicians in the Los Angeles area into a group that performs
exhibitions of Argentine tango, as well as other dances.
Ramon's dissertation follows:
THE DANCE OF GO-TAN
It is universally acknowledged that the Chinese invented practically
everything, including the compass, the printing press, and
gunpowder. Westerners used the compass to find their way around
the world to acquire new territories, the printed word to brainwash
their colonial slaves, and gunpowder to force into submission those
who resisted.
This may come as a shock to all knowledgeable milonga experts
historians, and philosophers; but the Chinese also have a
legitimate claim to the invention of the tango.
The great Mongolian warrior, Genghis Khan (1167-1127). subjugated
all of China, Northwest India, part of Russia, and the region that is
now Iran. When he was not waging war, he loved being entertained
in his palatial tent with music and dancing.
In the court of Genghis was a young man named "GO". Go was a
go-getter, a handsome young officer of Khan's 143rd Cavalry.
One day, 1 February 1223 to be exact, he was drunk as usual.
Then something unusual happened. He joined the dancing girls
with his own improvised choreography.. (Please note the
establishment of two important elements: improvisation and
drunkenness). The emperor was so amused that he encouraged Go to
forego his military career and devote all of his time to dancing.
He said, "Go, go for it!".
Go's dance, since then, was regularly performed and accompanied by
the rhythmic beating of gongs. It was called the "Gong Show".
Because of the drinking, the dance was also called "Whiskey-A-Go-Go".
Go's last name was Tan , a common Chinese surname. Since it was
customary to mention the family name first, Go's full name was
Tan-Go, and not Go Tan as they say in Argentina and the rest of the
world. His new choreography (always improvised, of course) was
named after him: Tango. Incidentally, his father, Sun (Tan Sun), or to
westerners, Sun Tan) was the Chinese discoverer of solar energy.
Tango became a very popular dance among all the commoners and all the
shepherds out in the desert. All the dancers tried to outdo each other.
The Mongols, in particular, were extremely competitive, even belligerent,
and sometimes they shot poisoned arrows or wrote to each other with
poisoned quills. This became a tradition, albeit an ugly one, that has
continued to this day via the Internet. A number of individuals claiming
to be experts, self-appointed authorities, and sole proprietors of the
nce., proclaimed from the highest peak of the sand dunes that they
were the only ones dancing authentic tango. Many other Mongols
complained, and the "Mongolian Beef" became widespread through-out
the Asian continent. The Mongolian beef served in Chinese restaurants
today commemorates the "Tango Wars of the 1200's".
Tango was at the peak of its popularity when Kublai Khan (1216-1294) , the
grandson of Genghis, was emperor. Under Kublai's rule, art and science
flourished, and cultural relations were established with countries throughout
the world. During this period, Marco Polo (1271) accompanied his father,
Nicolo, and his uncle Maffeo on a visit to Peking (now Beijing) , the capital
city
established in 1264.
Marco began his return trip to Italy in 1292 and reached Venice in 1295.
He brought home rice noodles (an imitation of which was later concocted as
"spaghetti") and, of course, tango. He was accompanied on his journey home
by a young Chinese dancer named Gow (last name, Cho).
Cho Gow was grandson of Go Tan. Cho Gow settled in Venice where he
married an Italian girl named Lucia. He trained his wife, and they became the
most popular ballroom dancers and teachers in all of Europe. Many merchants
of Venice took lessons. Among their famous students was Giotto, the
greatest artist of early Italian Renaissance. Also, Giotto was known for his
ability
to draw perfect circles freehand. He took a few tango lessons and then had to
give it up. He had two left feet which forced him to do "giros"all the time,
which
made him very dizzy. Also, he annoyed other dancers because as he went
endlessly in small circles, he stepped on everyhone's heels and broke up the
line
of dance in the ballroom. On one occasion, he stepped on beautiful Juliet's
delicate
toes, and he was beaten up badly by her boyfriend , Romeo, and his gang.
Poor Giotto then went back to his famous freehand drawing of circles.
Dozens of generations later (circa 1900), a descendant of Cho Gow, Fernando
Gowcho, emigrated to Argentina, along with many other Italians. The dancing
tradition of Go Tan's descendants was unbroken. Fernando entertained and
taught the dance of Go Tan to the Portenos of Buenos Aires.
Fernando married Esmeralda, an Indian girl with big feet from Patagonia.
He could not earn enough money from dancing and teaching to support his
growing family. He made and sold sausages which he simply called
"Mi Longaniza". His longaniza became a hot-selling item because it was
fatter and longer than those of his competitors. The name of his product was
abbreviated to "Mi longa", and also the name was applied to his faster
version of the tango.
When Fernando Gowcho became too old to dance and had made enough mango
from his longaniza, he bought a ranch where her raised horses. His family, with
five sons, Gan, Pan, Mon, and Ran, became known as the Gauchos.
The children preferred to use the original family name Cho. The Chos chose Cho:
Gan Cho, Pan Cho, San Cho, Mon Cho, and Ran Cho.
One of the Cho brothers, Gan, became a doctor and an excellent tanguero.
When he went to Paris for his postgraduate medical studies, he became the toast
of
the City of Lights. His tango style developed into a unique one because of his
irresistible urge to wrap his leg around his partner's. This dance figure
became
known by his name, Gancho. In Paris, it was Dr. Gancho's erotic dance that
inspired a young chap by the name of Carlos Gardel to become a tango singer.
In the 1930's, tango finally gained worldwide popularity, thanks to a Hollywood
movie idol, Rudolph Valentino. Contrary to popular belief, Valentino was not
an Italian. He was born in an American Indian reservation and was a direct
descendant of the great Apache warrior, Geronimo. Cell Mark Laboratories
(of O.D. Simpson murder trial fame) recently completed DNA studies on the
remains of Valentino and Geronimo, and found their genes to match perfectly.
This explains the fighting spirit of some of Geronimo's descendants.
Anthropologists have proven that American Indians originally came from
Asia by way of the Aleutian islands many millennia ago. In the 1880's, some
of their long-lost cousins came from China (Chinese coolies) to build the
railroads. In their first pow wow (family reunion), they taught Geronimo a
tango, which later became know as the Apache tango.
Modern tango mujsic and orchestration were concurrently developed and
modernized by the Italians in Argentina. The bandoneon, however, was
invented by a German who believed that the dance and music of tango must
always be improvised. He then scrambled the musical scale on both sides
of the accordion-like instrument ( both keyboards consisting of hard-to-find
buttons for the left and right hands). It was purposely designed to confuse
the bandoneonistas. The inventor hoped that their music would sound
confused and thus improvised. The German fellow simply hated anything
pre-meditated (as in pre-meditated first-degree murder). The only people
in the world today who dance adhering to the original Go Tan (improvisation
and tippling) are the Finns.
The bandoneon has now became the sine qua non of tango orchestration.
"You ain't got no bandoneon, you ain't got no tango music", so the critics
and experts pontificate. Sounds like all the traditionalists who declare in
their
papal bulls: "Can't play no jazz if it ain't Dixie with a banjo"; "Can't really
sing the blues, tap dance, or play authentic jazz unless you're a black
American"; "Can't dance authentic tango unless you dance exactly the way
the portenos did in the bordellos of 1880". Not true, some of the best
tangueros
are Afghans and Iraqi Kurds. In fact, the Kurds were dancing tango in the
streets when they were gassed by Saddam Hussein.
In an attempt to end all arguments among the critics, the purists, and the
traditionalists, once fierce combatant (a lady, sin cojones, naturally) in the
Tango War of the 1990's, declared, "Shut up! There ain't nobody who can
talk and dance authentic Go Tan unless they are Chinese!" AMEN!!
References:
1." History and Philosophy of Chinese Dances", by Confucius.
2. "Red Tango", by Madame Chiang Ching (widow of the late Chairman Mao).
3. "Diary of Marco Polo".
4."Meditations of a Buddhist Monk on Acrobatic Tango".
5 "Butt-sliding Exclusively Ballroom", by Beavis and Butthead.
6.El Firulete.
7. Internet postings, "Tango-l". .
CHINESE ORIGIN OF TANGO
My friend Dr. Ramon Sison of Beverly Hills requested that I post
his dissertation on the origin of the tango in China.
Also, earlier, Ramon gave permission for its publication in
El Firulete.
Ramon and his wife Rosario (Charito) are both physicians and are
avid tangueros. Also, they have organized a group of
physicians in the Los Angeles area into a group that performs
exhibitions of Argentine tango, as well as other dances.
Ramon's dissertation follows:
THE DANCE OF GO-TAN
It is universally acknowledged that the Chinese invented practically
everything, including the compass, the printing press, and
gunpowder. Westerners used the compass to find their way around
the world to acquire new territories, the printed word to brainwash
their colonial slaves, and gunpowder to force into submission those
who resisted.
This may come as a shock to all knowledgeable milonga experts
historians, and philosophers; but the Chinese also have a
legitimate claim to the invention of the tango.
The great Mongolian warrior, Genghis Khan (1167-1127). subjugated
all of China, Northwest India, part of Russia, and the region that is
now Iran. When he was not waging war, he loved being entertained
in his palatial tent with music and dancing.
In the court of Genghis was a young man named "GO". Go was a
go-getter, a handsome young officer of Khan's 143rd Cavalry.
One day, 1 February 1223 to be exact, he was drunk as usual.
Then something unusual happened. He joined the dancing girls
with his own improvised choreography.. (Please note the
establishment of two important elements: improvisation and
drunkenness). The emperor was so amused that he encouraged Go to
forego his military career and devote all of his time to dancing.
He said, "Go, go for it!".
Go's dance, since then, was regularly performed and accompanied by
the rhythmic beating of gongs. It was called the "Gong Show".
Because of the drinking, the dance was also called "Whiskey-A-Go-Go".
Go's last name was Tan , a common Chinese surname. Since it was
customary to mention the family name first, Go's full name was
Tan-Go, and not Go Tan as they say in Argentina and the rest of the
world. His new choreography (always improvised, of course) was
named after him: Tango. Incidentally, his father, Sun (Tan Sun), or to
westerners, Sun Tan) was the Chinese discoverer of solar energy.
Tango became a very popular dance among all the commoners and all the
shepherds out in the desert. All the dancers tried to outdo each other.
The Mongols, in particular, were extremely competitive, even belligerent,
and sometimes they shot poisoned arrows or wrote to each other with
poisoned quills. This became a tradition, albeit an ugly one, that has
continued to this day via the Internet. A number of individuals claiming
to be experts, self-appointed authorities, and sole proprietors of the
nce., proclaimed from the highest peak of the sand dunes that they
were the only ones dancing authentic tango. Many other Mongols
complained, and the "Mongolian Beef" became widespread through-out
the Asian continent. The Mongolian beef served in Chinese restaurants
today commemorates the "Tango Wars of the 1200's".
Tango was at the peak of its popularity when Kublai Khan (1216-1294) , the
grandson of Genghis, was emperor. Under Kublai's rule, art and science
flourished, and cultural relations were established with countries throughout
the world. During this period, Marco Polo (1271) accompanied his father,
Nicolo, and his uncle Maffeo on a visit to Peking (now Beijing) , the capital
city
established in 1264.
Marco began his return trip to Italy in 1292 and reached Venice in 1295.
He brought home rice noodles (an imitation of which was later concocted as
"spaghetti") and, of course, tango. He was accompanied on his journey home
by a young Chinese dancer named Gow (last name, Cho).
Cho Gow was grandson of Go Tan. Cho Gow settled in Venice where he
married an Italian girl named Lucia. He trained his wife, and they became the
most popular ballroom dancers and teachers in all of Europe. Many merchants
of Venice took lessons. Among their famous students was Giotto, the
greatest artist of early Italian Renaissance. Also, Giotto was known for his
ability
to draw perfect circles freehand. He took a few tango lessons and then had to
give it up. He had two left feet which forced him to do "giros"all the time,
which
made him very dizzy. Also, he annoyed other dancers because as he went
endlessly in small circles, he stepped on everyhone's heels and broke up the
line
of dance in the ballroom. On one occasion, he stepped on beautiful Juliet's
delicate
toes, and he was beaten up badly by her boyfriend , Romeo, and his gang.
Poor Giotto then went back to his famous freehand drawing of circles.
Dozens of generations later (circa 1900), a descendant of Cho Gow, Fernando
Gowcho, emigrated to Argentina, along with many other Italians. The dancing
tradition of Go Tan's descendants was unbroken. Fernando entertained and
taught the dance of Go Tan to the Portenos of Buenos Aires.
Fernando married Esmeralda, an Indian girl with big feet from Patagonia.
He could not earn enough money from dancing and teaching to support his
growing family. He made and sold sausages which he simply called
"Mi Longaniza". His longaniza became a hot-selling item because it was
fatter and longer than those of his competitors. The name of his product was
abbreviated to "Mi longa", and also the name was applied to his faster
version of the tango.
When Fernando Gowcho became too old to dance and had made enough mango
from his longaniza, he bought a ranch where her raised horses. His family, with
five sons, Gan, Pan, Mon, and Ran, became known as the Gauchos.
The children preferred to use the original family name Cho. The Chos chose Cho:
Gan Cho, Pan Cho, San Cho, Mon Cho, and Ran Cho.
One of the Cho brothers, Gan, became a doctor and an excellent tanguero.
When he went to Paris for his postgraduate medical studies, he became the toast
of
the City of Lights. His tango style developed into a unique one because of his
irresistible urge to wrap his leg around his partner's. This dance figure
became
known by his name, Gancho. In Paris, it was Dr. Gancho's erotic dance that
inspired a young chap by the name of Carlos Gardel to become a tango singer.
In the 1930's, tango finally gained worldwide popularity, thanks to a Hollywood
movie idol, Rudolph Valentino. Contrary to popular belief, Valentino was not
an Italian. He was born in an American Indian reservation and was a direct
descendant of the great Apache warrior, Geronimo. Cell Mark Laboratories
(of O.D. Simpson murder trial fame) recently completed DNA studies on the
remains of Valentino and Geronimo, and found their genes to match perfectly.
This explains the fighting spirit of some of Geronimo's descendants.
Anthropologists have proven that American Indians originally came from
Asia by way of the Aleutian islands many millennia ago. In the 1880's, some
of their long-lost cousins came from China (Chinese coolies) to build the
railroads. In their first pow wow (family reunion), they taught Geronimo a
tango, which later became know as the Apache tango.
Modern tango mujsic and orchestration were concurrently developed and
modernized by the Italians in Argentina. The bandoneon, however, was
invented by a German who believed that the dance and music of tango must
always be improvised. He then scrambled the musical scale on both sides
of the accordion-like instrument ( both keyboards consisting of hard-to-find
buttons for the left and right hands). It was purposely designed to confuse
the bandoneonistas. The inventor hoped that their music would sound
confused and thus improvised. The German fellow simply hated anything
pre-meditated (as in pre-meditated first-degree murder). The only people
in the world today who dance adhering to the original Go Tan (improvisation
and tippling) are the Finns.
The bandoneon has now became the sine qua non of tango orchestration.
"You ain't got no bandoneon, you ain't got no tango music", so the critics
and experts pontificate. Sounds like all the traditionalists who declare in
their
papal bulls: "Can't play no jazz if it ain't Dixie with a banjo"; "Can't really
sing the blues, tap dance, or play authentic jazz unless you're a black
American"; "Can't dance authentic tango unless you dance exactly the way
the portenos did in the bordellos of 1880". Not true, some of the best
tangueros
are Afghans and Iraqi Kurds. In fact, the Kurds were dancing tango in the
streets when they were gassed by Saddam Hussein.
In an attempt to end all arguments among the critics, the purists, and the
traditionalists, once fierce combatant (a lady, sin cojones, naturally) in the
Tango War of the 1990's, declared, "Shut up! There ain't nobody who can
talk and dance authentic Go Tan unless they are Chinese!" AMEN!!
References:
1." History and Philosophy of Chinese Dances", by Confucius.
2. "Red Tango", by Madame Chiang Ching (widow of the late Chairman Mao).
3. "Diary of Marco Polo".
4."Meditations of a Buddhist Monk on Acrobatic Tango".
5 "Butt-sliding Exclusively Ballroom", by Beavis and Butthead.
6.El Firulete.
7. Internet postings, "Tango-l". .
