A Tango Centenary?

U

UKDancer

Well-Known Member
Various sources I have consulted attribute 1912 as the start of Tangomania, first in Paris and then throughout Europe. For the first time, tango became a dance for the respectable middle class, and probably Europe led the way, with BsAs society catching up rather later.

Several Argentinian or Uruguayan musicians (notably Rafael Canaro, brother of Francisco) set up bands in Paris, and there is an interesting body of French tango (of very high quality, mixed in with rubbish of mawkish sentimentality), and some German music too. I haven't seen any publicity or comment regarding this centenary, but suspect that it was of considerable significance in terms of tango development, and must, surely, have had an effect back in BsAs. Would the change from early canyengue style dancing to Dos por Cuatro music have taken the same course without the new International component in the development of the dance? Would anything like what we now know as ballroom tango have developed in the salons of BsAs?

I took a couple of classes in the basics of canyengue at the weekend, and was surprised to find so much in it that is directly relatable to modern ballroom tango technique (but not characterisation, obviously). I hadn't expected that, and it occurred to me that either that one is the origin of the other, or that canyengue (as it is now understood) is largely the reverse-engineered product of taking more recent developments back in time.

Was 1912 a seminal year for tango, or was the explosion of interest in the dance form, not just in Europe, but in the US too, just a footnote in history, with no lasting effect?
 
In 1912 Ricardo Güiraldes returned from Paris to BsAs. Think he was the first to show us europeans how to dance tango. Think he got the same role for europe than Valentino for the US/NY.

Once I started a similar thread on tango music, but cannot find it anymore. Think my basic argument was, that tango survived because composers and band leaders like deCaro incorporated the european tradition of salon music into tango and helped the argentine bourgeosisie by this to accept their own musical tradition, long before brilliant guys like Rafael Canaro and the other returned to BsAs.
 
UKDancer said:
...Was 1912 a seminal year for tango, or was the explosion of interest in the dance form, not just in Europe, but in the US too, just a footnote in history, with no lasting effect?
Click to expand...

According to one history book I read about the creation of Argentina (I can't site it right now), there has long been an ideological divide amongst Argentines. Porteños believed that anything worth while must come from Europe, while anything homegrown was automatically inferior. On the other hand were non-porteños, who thought Argentina could also produce things of value. (It's a generality). Therefore, tango was considered crude until it was adopted by European civilization. That indicates that tango may have withered on the vine without it's acceptance in Europe.

ETA: http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/p/2917/mcms.html
 
History is full of little details, so picking one date will always be a bit arbitrary.
Take a look at this site.

http://www.lptango.com.ar/en/index....paris&catid=7:tango-around-the-world&Itemid=8

Thompson (Art History of Love) wrote that there were surviving dancers who danced canyengue "fairly recently." To him, that style contained much African influenced movement.

I wonder about tango dying out without the European stamp of approval. Amercian blues and jazz needed no such approval to thrive (although jazz certainly was accepted around the world), and I'm thinking (off the top of my head) that it would have survived, but perhaps in a somewhat different form.
 
Steve Pastor said:
...I wonder about tango dying out without the European stamp of approval. Amercian blues and jazz needed no such approval to thrive (although jazz certainly was accepted around the world), and I'm thinking (off the top of my head) that it would have survived, but perhaps in a somewhat different form.
Click to expand...

Events that lead to the founding of the US were of an entirely different nature than those that led to the founding of Argentina. Thus, giving these countries a completely different national idea of who we are.

The history that I referenced was fascinating and is even evident in Argentina today. As is the history of any country.
 
Steve Pastor said:
...Thompson (Art History of Love) wrote that there were surviving dancers who danced canyengue "fairly recently." To him, that style contained much African influenced movement...
Click to expand...

Thanks for handing on a plate: I wonder why Thompson reagards canyengue as a living fossile and a primitive stadium? When I hear canyengue music I dance canyengue tango. But I do not dance canyengue to salón style tango. The music changed, and the dance style did subsequently. And you can still find that african moves (soltadas, sacadas, planeos, volcadas) also in modern tango dance styles!


tangotime said:
In addition, it was the "French " who developed the Adagio style of Tango, that was commonly seen in nite-clubs and even movies ( Valentino for e.g. ).
Click to expand...

I find this interesting. Though I mean, that the (lost original) played music seems to be rather slow and concerning the heavy beats it must have been canyengue.
 
Brief Synopsis

In this silent film, a young Argentine fights for France, his father's country, in World War I. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3234/The-Four-Horsemen-of-the-Apocalypse/

Right, so we don't know what music was used, ie it's "lost" ?

Valentino had a roommate who was from Argentina and quite likely taught him tango. This was before he became famous on film, but he used tango to attract wealthy women at "tango teas." All of this is from memory at this point, but I'm fairly certain of this.
Was the tango he did on film the same as what he did "socially"? Don't know.

Thompson's main academic interest was African art. So when he looked into the history of tango, he called what he saw as African where appropriate, and to a much greater extent that other authors. Argentines in particular seem to leave out any "African" aspects. One author wrote that is was made up, and had no historic basis.

I'd like to think that rather than being a fossil, Thompson would think of canyengue is a dance style that goes with an older style of tango music.

Thompson also wrote an article about THE "dance of the 50s." He even mentioned the Bop and Art Sylva from "Hollywood." Heck, kids, lets put on some old time rock 'n' roll and do the Bop!

Oh, and may I ask why you think of these as African? soltadas, sacadas, planeos, volcadas
Thompson seem to focus on movement of the individual, since there were no partner dances in sub Shararan Africa.
 
1927 Btitish pathe news

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-french-tango

this one is worth watching for the glass floor shot alone..

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-new-tango

and Geraldo's Gaucho Orchestra (playing accordions! they're probably east enders...)

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/geraldos-gauchos-tango-orchestra-1/query/GERALDO+HIS+GAUCHO+TANGO

and this is real tango (you can tell because of the gaucho pants ;) )lol

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-argentine-tango/query/tango
 
What the videos show most clearly is that the Dark Side Imperials had taken over by 1931 (using a 10-step plan) ;).

Oh, and about that last video: if I ever catch a follower of mine trying to flap her left arm like that, I won't be dancing very well, since I'll have to constantly repress my urge to slap her (my guess is that the Pathé clip director said "Could you do something more sinuous°, perhaps?")

--
°I don't believe for an instant it is a coincidence that sinuous and Sidious look the same.
 
The clips are interesting, but the earliest is a full 15 years after the so-called start of Tangomania.

We seem to have only the vaguest idea of how tango was actually danced in BsAs, or Paris, for that matter, before the Great War.
 
MUCH DANCING AT DINARD.; Visitors There Like the "Triple Boston," but Bar the "Tango." [PDF]
DINARD, Aug. 9. -- Encouraged by the magnificent weather, entertainments of all sorts are going on every day, the unusual number of visitors, and especially of Americans, making Dinard one of the gayest Summer resorts. Dancing is the favorite amusement, and the craze this year is for the "triple Boston," which has almost done away with the "double Boston."

An attempt was made this week to introduce the latest Paris dance, the "Tango," of South American fame. After a few experiments it was, however, discarded, as the majority of dancers found it a little risque and more appropriate for Montnarte dancing hall that for private drawing rooms.

August 20, 1911 - Special Correspondence NEW YORK TIMES. - Article
 
UKDancer said:
For the first time, tango became a dance for the respectable middle class, and probably Europe led the way, with BsAs society catching up rather later...
Click to expand...

Help!

15 minutes ago I posted on Facebook

Dont agree! The "Guardia nueva" as the "Guardia Vieja" hasn´t got anything to do with the date of recording. Either group resembles an ideology. They already coexisted in a way from the very beginning of tango, because tango was and is a fusion art. Of course in a narrow sense "Guardia Nueva" means arranging in the follow of deCaro´s concept, which means that the european influence prevails. The date of recording is absolutely subsidiary.
Click to expand...

Now it looks like I´m earning a lot of kicks. Can you help me out?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top