A History of Argentine Tango and the Evolution of Its Styles

by Stephen Brown

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Chart in pdf format

The Beginnings of Tango

Canyengue Emerges

Tango Goes to Europe

Non-Argentine Styles of Tango

The Orillero-Liso Split

The Development of Salon Tango

Clubs de Barrios and the Emergence of Club/Milonguero

The Development of Modern Salon

The Development of Stage Tango: Cabaret

The Next Evolution in Stage Dancing: Fantasia

The Golden Age Ends and Tango Goes Underground in Argentina

A Renaissance: Argentine Tango Reemerges into Public View

Nuevo: An Analytical Reorganization of Tango Movements

The Emergence of Liquid Tango

Acknowledgments and Comments

Eduardo Arquimbau, Miguel Angel Balbi, Juan Bruno, Juan Carlos Copes, Christine Denniston, Mariela Franganillo, Nito Garcia, Barbara Garvey, Janis Kenyon, Alberto Paz, Mingo Pugliese, Susana Miller, Richard Powers, Tom Stermitz, Daniel Saindon, Sergio Suppa, Daniel Trenner and Ruddy Zelaya have contributed ideas that have found their way into this analysis of Argentine tango's history and the evolution of its styles. In developing this history I relied heavily on secondary sources. I supplemented the secondary sources to a limited extent with a few primary sources—that is the shared memories of a few individuals who begin dancing Argentine tango toward the end of its golden age. I further supplemented these sources with my own analysis of the rhythmic and step elements of contemporary Argentine tango to draw some of the historical connections between the various styles.

For another perspective, see Christine Denniston's webpage history-of-tango.com.

Tango Argentino de Tejas

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