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Tango del Rio Platence Passion,
sensual and tormenting, the Tango means a lot to many
people. In the European and international dances the joy
seems to infect itself more easily in the romanticism of
the ValsE, the fiery of the Rock and Roll, or the
carnival atmosphere of the Samba. But in spite of its
reputation of melancholic, the Tango captures those
feelings and more. Been born of laborious experiences of
the life of the suburbs of Buenos Aires, the Tango
climbed from its humble birth to shining in the meetings
of the high Parisian society, although in its true home,
the suburb bars, its essence has stayed intact.
 In
the last years of century nineteen, Europe was
devastated by the continuous wars, the hunger and the
economic uncertainty. With little hope to improve and
the nonexistent of expectation to progress in the Earth
that saw them be born, many young people emigrated to
begin a new life in South America. Hundreds of thousands
disembarked in the young federal capital of Argentina,
in the port of Buenos Aires to borders of the Rio de la
Plata (Rio of the Silver).
Although
it was a prosperous time for the country, the life was
hard for the immigrants, who were themselves forced to
settle down precariously in the outskirts. Nevertheless,
the immigrants continued to arrive, and towards 1914
they surpassed the native inhabitants in Buenos Aires in
a relation of three by one. Near half of them were
Italian, a third were Spanish. most of the italiens
settled in the old area of the port, the zone of la Boca
(Mouth), and still today it is an alive memory of their
contribution to the culture, tanguera (of tango).
Already at the time of the first immigrants, cowboy
Argentine, the gaucho, was on the verge of disappearing.
But their legacy already had registered and transmitted
its soul to the Tango: the days in which the gaucho was
walking through the Pampas, the news was spread by
"the payador" mythical, that was indeed a
nomadic troubadour. Of that style to make song, that was
begun to dance later, the Milonga was born. Due to the
time recordings are not conserved, but its popularity in
Buenos Aires is known, particularly among the lower
classes.
The
word Tango of African origin and should means something
like "place of meeting" or "special
place". The Cuban Havaneras, the Spanish
Contradanza and the Candombe of afro-rioplatense origin
influenced in greater or smaller measurement the
evolution of the Tango, but, much more the Milonga.
Milonga comes to be something like
"celebration", and its music is vital and
cheery. Evidences exist of the contact between the
"compadritos" and afro-rioplatenses cultures
of which they surely took movements from dances and
adapted them to the Milonga, levelling off for the later
eruption of Tango.
The
new generation of Argentineans descended of Europe
shared a commune tie, that habitually was the one of the
hopelessness and the disappointment. And this became
song: a song of sadness, nostalgia and yearning, but
also of hopes and aspirations. The passion of the song
demanded more expression in the dance, thus was the
Tango born in the suburbs.
The
Majority of the immigrants were young men who in a while
arrived to surpass the feminine population in a relation
of fifty by one. These young people assiduously visited
the academies of dance and the cafés where there was a
habit to pay to the young women to dance a piece. With
the objective to attract the little feminine public, one
took control very important to become A good bailarin.
Those who did not attend the academies, taught the tango
to one an other, interchanged steps and
practiced together before exposing his knowledge
before the women. Far from the European conventionalism,
the men developed original and complicated ways to take
to the woman in the dance.
The
first instruments that accompanied the Tango was the
guitar, flute and the violin. Later bandoneon became a
crucial instrument. As much that affirms generally that
bandoneon is the "soul" of the Tango, have
been made up many tango that pays tribute to the
"instrument of the demon".
With
the exception of some vocal tangos, the majority of
tango is played with bandoneón. perhaps "the
Cumparsita", is tango more known internationally.
It dates from 1916, and was composed, originally like a
march by Gerald Matos Rodriguez, but soon was adapted to
tango. Another very known tango, "the Choclo",
was composed in 1905 by Angelo Villoldo, and it has
stayed one of the most popular tangos of all the times.
In the Fifties, it summoned up new life when from a
musical adjustment, "Fire Kiss (Beso de
Fuego)", arrived to rankings of popularity.
With
deep and sonorous notes of bandoneón, the Tango
received more power, and sometimes, not always
melancholia. Words to melodies were added to it, which
reflected the preoccupations of people. Most of the
tangos tapeworm a fatalistic tone and focused in the
form that the Buenosairean had to see the life. Carlos
Gardel became one of, maybe, the greatest singer of
Tango of all the times. Gardel was the Latin archetype
of a lover. He passed away tragically in an accident of
an aeroplane in 1935. Its tomb, the cemetery of the
Chacarita has become a forced site of peregrination for
the lovers of the Tango. Many of the tangos sung by
Gardel are accompanied only by a guitar, having evoked
the old style of the payadores( troubadour). The first
tango recorded was "My sad night (Mi noche
triste)" in 1917.
Enrique Santos Discépolo, one of the great of poesia
tanguera, said "the Tango is a sad thought
expressed in dance". Nevertheless, the Tango is
more an impulse than a thought, that defies the dancers
to explore their deeper feelings through the dance.
The
Law of Universal Suffrage of 1912 meant a great advance
in the freedom of the town and that impetus was
reflected in the Tango. For that then, not only the low
class wanted to dance the Tango, it was also put
fashionable for the high class, that began to include it
in its exclusive celebrations. They opened numerous
premises dedicated to the dance of the Tango in the
richest areas of the city of Buenos Aires. Shortly after
the fame of the Tango expanded from South America to New
York, London, Paris, where the Tango was begun to be
danced in tearooms.
Nevertheless,
immediately, the bold and light character of the Tango
generated conflicts and received the rejection of great
political authorities as much as religious. In Paris,
Amette Cardinal declared that "the Christians of
good conscience would not have to participate in their
dance", and the following year, arrived complaints
of Pope Benedicto XV that sad, "Is indignant that
this indecent and pagan dance, that is a murder to the
family and the social life, inclusively is danced in the
Papal residence". In 1914, the Kaiser Wilhelm II
prohibited its officials to dance the Tango while they
dressed uniforms, describing it like "a vicious
dance, and an offense to the decency of the community.
During
World War I, people began to look for distractions. In
spite of the ruling agitation and horror, the Tango was
far from being forgotten. The atmosphere was changing
and more freedom was breathed in the air. The popularity
of the Tango was a change sign, that was marked and fort
more, every day. When the war finished, the Tango
entered the Golden age, in the twenties. The Tango
became more and more popular in Europe and North
America, and in its cradle, Buenos Aires, its popularity
hade reached levels without precedents. Some musicians
tried to innovate. These musicians and composers were
very admired and their names were emblematic for Buenos
Aires. The bandoneonists became demigods. But not only
the musicians made use of the imagination - also the
dancers used it, and were recognized and admired by the
public. Perhaps the most known and reputed dancer was
the Cachafaz (Jose Ovid Bianquet). Dancing in pair with
Carmencita Calderón, the Cachafaz was reverended by the
public. Other great dancers in recent times, are Un Tal
Gavito (a certain Gavito), Carlos Gavito and Marcela
Duran, Carlos Copello and Alicia Monti, Juan Carlos
Copes and Maria Snows, Their different styles personify
the sense of the dance and they inspire feelings to the
spectator.
In more recent times, there have been many dancers of
the Tango who have become famous appearing in diverse
shows around the world. The style of Juan Carlos is
Tango for Shows, also called Tango for export, and
through the years it has been loosing more and more the
essence of the authentic Tango of Buenos Aires (Tango
from Rio Platence). This commentary is not for being
inferior the experience and quality whereupon they act,
but this I capitulate is centered in the education of
the authentic Argentine Tango.
A military coup in Argentina. the 6 of September of
1930, inaugurated a period of governmental instability
during which, the anxious authorities to control any
criticism, they began to prohibit any tango that they
considered as a political transform or spoke on social
justice.
In Europe the Tango had crossed certain modifications.
The Argentine Tango did not go according to the
traditional postulates of the European dance, and the
authentic style was fast and abruptly changed. Long
walks were added to make the dancing pair circulate
around the dance floor, the seductive character was
suppressed and acquired a more aggressive and severe
rate. In addition the percussion to the typical
orchestra was added, which caused that music acquired a
march style. The shock of head associated to the new
international style of Tango of competition
was added to the dance.
During
the Fifties, in Buenos Aires the Tango began to decline.
Perón left the power, and the economy went in frank
backward movement. The immigrants no longer regarded
themselves as immigrants, but as Argentineans, and the
power of the Tango to console the nostalgic yearnings
diminished. With the economic recession, the reasons
were few to promote great events of Tango and typicals
orchestras from the forties. The Tango still was played
in small groups, but the audience danced less and less
and it was only listening to the Tango. Towards the
Sixties, musicians and composers tried a "new
Tango", a new style to be sung and listened more
than danced. As the popularity of this new style
increased, the interest in the dance began to decline.
Some remarkable orchestras and composers, including the
celebrated Osvaldo Pugliese, continued playing for
public in Argentina and abroad.During the eighties, the
productions arose great scale and toured around the
world offering their spectacle, trying to revive the
fascination of the Tango outside of Argentina. Such was
their effect, that the new generation discovered the
Tango for the first time. At the present time, (there is
more and more numerous) the amount of clubs, halls and
schools of Tango is more and more numerous, as much in
North America, as in Europe and the Distant East.
Today is
very popular to become a Tango dancer in Buenos Aires
and a lot of people are creating Tango for shows to be
exported.
Because
the Historians of Argentine did not want to write about
the presence of the Africans who was a part of Argentine
identity, I don’t believe that the last and the
trueTango history has been written. I hope the young
generation keep surching for the truth.
The
Tango has crossed a long way from its humble birth, but
it has a long way yet to cross. Its history has been
enriched with the legend, the romance and nostalgia that
it generates. The Tango is a sensual dance by
excellence, that captures an ample range of emotions:
hope, uneasiness, at the end the life itself. This is
Tango.
Donzé
Bueno
Sources: La Historia del Tango,
La Escuela de Tango Argentino, Curso Completo de
Baile, Colección de los Tangautas, B.A. Tango, etc...
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