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TWO
TO TANGO?
by
Carol Middleton
(first published in Honda:The Magazine Autumn 2000)
The
music is sad, passionate, uplifting. The dance is intricate, subtle, creative.
The mood is intense, aloof, sexy. This is tango.
Tango
came out of the melting pot of cultures that converged on Buenos Aires
at the end of the 1800s. The music and the dance of tango capture the
earthiness of Africa, the elegance of Paris and the music of Latin America
and Europe. Learning to dance the tango is learning to dance from the
heart - with sensuality and with style. Tango is tuning in to the music
of a culture steeped in nostalgia and longing, expressing all the sadness
of immigrants uprooted from their native countries.
"Circle
your partner's neck with your left arm, lean against him, and find that
spot by his right ear where you can place your head comfortably."
I follow the instructions of Kristina, my Argentinian dance teacher, searching
for the T spot that will turn me into a true Tango dancer. Luckily, I
am tall and my partner is even taller: 1.9 metres. Teaming up with a partner
whose T spot is a lot higher or lower than yours could land you in all
sorts of trouble.
Intimacy
is just one of the attractions of Tango. After decades of dancing solo
in discos and raves, romance is on the upswing and partner dancing is
making a comeback. Ballroom dancing is as popular as ever, salsa, merengue
and lambada have had their day, but nothing has captured the imagination
like the Argentine Tango.
Tango
is a nocturnal creature and suits the urban lifestyle. The colours of
the tango are black and red. The men may on occasion adopt the traditional
tango gear: slouch hats, braces, waistcoats or scarves. Young women, who
wear chunky shoes and long skirts or trousers to work, change into the
short or split skirt, stiletto heels and fine stockings of the tanguera
at night.
It
is not only younger people who are taking up tango. This is a dance for
all ages. Older dancers are inspired by the sight of ageing tangueros
on the dancefloor. These are the most respected dancers in Argentina,
who keep the tango tradition alive and who capture that essential partnership
which is the key to tango dancing. Even though younger couples can dazzle
with their athletic displays of foot-flicking and fancy lifts and flips,
there is nothing more moving than the sight of an older couple, who have
been dancing together for eternity, moving gracefully as one.
To
learn to move as one, I shut my eyes and follow the movements of my partner
as he guides me with his upper body. The pace can be fast, and then slow,
in response to the twists and turns of the tango music. Within the structure
of the music, there is space to play with the timing, to drag out the
pace or to intertwine the legs, embellishing a step with ganchos and
enlazados. The love triangle is between the man, the woman and the
music.
"It
takes two to tango," they say. Yet tango was not always a partner
dance. It started life as a man's dance, as a macho display. El Cachafáz
(Barefaced Cheek) was the first tango dancer to go down in history.
Born in 1879 and reputed to be the best tango dancer ever, El Cachafáz
started his dancing career in the street and ended it in a tango salon
at the age of sixty-three. He dropped dead, between dances, in his partner's
arms.
The
tango was born in the tough and violent world of the compadres or
semi-urban cowboys who, when Buenos Aires became a thriving port at the
turn of the century, replaced the real cowboys or gauchos from the Pampa.
The tango of the compadres was a duel: two men locked in mortal combat.
After the compadres came the urban compadritos, who copied their style, adopting the wide brimmed hat, the white silk
lengue or neckerchief,
the short jacket and tight trousers.
It
was only later, in the brothels and clandestinos, that women became
drawn into the tango, which then evolved as a conversation in dance between
the prostitute and her pimp. This story still underlies the tango today,
although the relationship between the man and the woman has become rather
more romantic over time.
The
tango's origins are lost in the tangle of influences that collided in
Buenos Aires when a huge migration from Italy, Spain and France spilled
into the burgeoning port. The tango has its roots in the local milonga,
the rhythms of African slaves and the European polkas and mazurkas.
Tango
was born in the bars and on the street corners of Buenos Aires during
the latter years of the 1800s; raised to respectability in Paris; adopted
by ballroom dancing; and now reborn in Argentina with a hundred bastard
versions springing up around the world.
The
move to Paris took place in 1912, and by 1913 tango fever had taken hold
of the fashion capital of the world. People talked of little else. When,
in 1921, Rudolph Valentino danced the tango in "The Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse", there was no turning back. Tango singers and
orchestras had been coming to Paris since 1907 to make use of the superior
recording facilities. With the approval of Paris and the availability
of tango records, tango spread to dancefloors across the world and embarked
on a golden age that lasted from 1920 to 1950.
In
the last ten years or so, tango has made a comeback. Al Pacino danced
it in "Scent of A Woman"; Madonna revived it in "Evita";
several tango shows, Tango Argentina, Forever Tango, Tango Pasion
and Tango Por Dos, have been international successes. More recently,
Julio Iglesias' album Tango
and the movies The Tango Lesson and Tango have
added fuel to the fire.
In
Australia the fire is spreading. In Melbourne in particular, the Argentinian
population is enjoying the milongas and tango salons that are springing
up, sharing their passion with newer aficionados of the tango. Argentinian
dance teachers, who were until recently focussing mainly on the salsa
and merengue, are now trying to cope with the overwhelming demand for
tango.
An
increasing number of Australian tango students travel to Buenos Aires,
to tap into the source of tango, to dance in the tango salons and learn
from the masters of tango. The sudden boom in tango tourism has produced
a number of entrepreneurs who are cashing in on the fashion. It is becoming
increasingly hard to find the genuine tanguero. The word coming back from
Argentina is that the Australians are admired for developing a tango style
of their own, with its own grace and personality.
Fair-haired,
fair-skinned and of Anglo-Saxon origin I may be, but it seems there’s
still a chance that one day I will find myself in Buenos Aires dancing
with an elderly, tall tanguero who will whisper in my right ear, "I
love your Australian style," as I lean against him, searching for
that elusive T spot.
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© copyright 2003
Carol Middleton