Argentine Tango

By: Jazmine Lavasani,

Vanessa Larson, Mily
Araoz,
Khanh
Nguyen, Shrae Wynn

Dance &
Dancers
In this culture couples (men & women)
are the ones who dance
There is no religious origin for the
Argentine Tango Dance.
It started off as a ballet dance between
two men. Through years it became an
elegant and stylish dance picturing high
society. For this dance men and women
are dressed up with tuxedos and dresses.
The dance is sensual but also emotional

Tango Attire

Dance
Description

Tango partners make an intimate connection. Is a flexible dance, the leader

can lead to any direction. The followers must be aware of changes in
direction almost innate comprehension

The follower must be aware of sudden changes in direction almost before

they happen, which calls for an almost innate comprehension of the
leader's intention to create a smooth flow of movements.

The leader also must pay close attention to how his partner is following and
make subtle adjustments accordingly.

Tango sometimes don't express current feelings in matters like love,

friendship and other values that traditional tango talks about, makes it
problematic to have a singer in the orchestra.

Oppressed or
Privileged?

For women within the Argentinean lower class,

the tango wasnt about sexuality, It about
oppression.

Many females who were good tango dancers

used their ability to enhance their prostitution
clientele.

Some women chose to become prostitutes as

a route to escape the depths of the lower-class
life.

By the 1930s, the Golden Age of Argentina was

beginning.

The tango came to be a fundamental

expression of Argentine culture, and the
Golden Age lasted through the 1940s and
1950s.

Oppression/Stereotypes

Argentinians hurdle to the immigrants

dream of upward mobility but it also
reinforces their negative image as
disenfranchised humans in society.

They found their identity in Tango the only

thing that kept them visible to the world.

The Tango became popular in Paris because

it ties to stereotypes, such as, exoticism and
sexuality, which identified with the
indigenous Latin American culture.

The aggressive introduction of Anglo music

began to suppress the dance form and the
Tango began to decline.

Cultural Expression/Privilege

Tango became more of a social dance.

Argentine dancers brought it to Paris

around 1908. This dance became very
popular, becoming the biggest news in
Paris in the 1912-1914.

Tango had spread across the country

imitating grasping the same
movement style but people would
incorporate their own dance style
which kept the cultural expression of
the dance form alive but it shifted into
a more privilege competitive dance
form across the world.

Influence on the
Dance
The primary factor operating against the Argentine tango
cultural traditions is economics. For dancers in First World
cultures who have not experienced Argentine tango culture
firsthand, some education is required to understand the tango
as practiced in Buenos Aires.
Offering a modification of Argentine tango to a form
that has characteristics expected for social dancing in First
World dance culture(s) is more widely accepted.
A person seeking Argentine milonga culture either needs to
travel to Buenos Aires to find that environment, or travel to
closer communities where some of this environment exists.
Trips to Buenos Aires to experience tango in the environment of its birth are a necessity
to gain at least some experience of the characteristics of Argentine tango culture.

Argentine Tango and the Contribution to American Culture

Tango has widely spread all

over the U.S it has become one
of the major ballroom dances.

There are 8 tango styles,

Ballroom Tango developed
from Argentine Tango, it is a
good choice for beginners

Tango created a new play

ground for many dancers,
mainly for couple groups. It's
very competitive, there are
many contests around the
world.

Acculturation

As the group of mixed cultures

who
created the Argentine Tango has
acculturated, the dance itself has
grown to be accepted by
individuals
higher in society.
Ricardo Guiraldes:

What has been lost?

The Tango came out of the slums of Buenos
Aires Argentina. The Tango was considered a
prostitution dance form.
The origins of the Tango are difficult to trace
but may include the African (candombe), a
Spanish Tango, possibly of Gypsy ancestry
that was brought to Argentina.
The origins of the Tango was born in the
brothels.
It lost a sense of despair and pessimism as
it originally was referencing a relationship
that could never become a less meaningful
cultural value but as a popular competitive

Dominant
Response/Acculturation:

The dominant/privilege class has acculturated the Argentine Tango.

There isnt much response of the dominant group towards others

participating in and evolving the traditions because they didnt accept the
tango themselves until the dance had begun to spread across Europe.

The main concern people have pertaining to the evolution of the tango is
the loss of the atmosphere you find the tango danced in when in
Argentina.

Many who have travelled to Argentina to study the Tango ache to recreate
the physical and social environment they experienced.

Suppress and Devalue

This group is no longer suppressed by social,

economic or political structures.
In October of this year The Argentine Tango
made it onto Dancing with the Stars. Jana and
Gleb performed Argentine Tango to Selena
Gomezs Hands to Myself for Latin Night. They
score a perfect 40.
Tango made it to the big screen. Many people
have heard of this style and want to learn.
Professional dancers embrace this sexy dance
and use it to their advantage.

CONCLUSION/APPRECIATION

This group has taught us to

appreciate dance as a language
among people who have no other
way to communicate.

The multicultural group who started

the Argentine Tango also taught us
that even a group of people who are
looked down upon not only as a
group, but as individuals as well, can
create something beautiful that the
whole world can enjoy.

REFERENCES
Stephen and Susan Brown. "Building a Collection of Argentine Tango
Music for Social ..." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
"Argentinian Culture - Culture in Argentina | Don Quijote." DonQuijote.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 April. 2016.
Vernellia R. Randall. "Racial Discrimination in Argentina." Racial
Discrimination in Argentina. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011.
Sarah Godel. "Ballroom: The Dance That Globalization Built."
Interrogating Dance Globalization. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2005.
Richard Powers. "The Tango Family Tree." The Tango Family Tree. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2007.

Online References

http://academic.udayton.edu/race/06hrights/georegions/southamerica/argentina01.htm

https://sophia.smith.edu/blog/danceglobalization/2012/05/02/ballroom-the-dance-that-globaliza
tion-built-2/

http://www.tangoconcepts.com/history.html

http://socialdance.stanford.edu/Syllabi/tango_family_tree.htm

http://www.immigrationandhealthinitiative.com/immigration_and_health_in/files/viladrichs_et
hnography.pdf
(pg. 387)

https://tangovoice.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/factors-affecting-the-survival-of-argentinetango-cultural-traditions-in-non-supportive-first-world-cultural-environments-the-dominanceof-tango-extranjero/

http://www.history-of-tango.com/tango-origins.html

http://www.argentina-tango.com