At the time the choreography of the tango looks like a jerky, hand-to-hand combat or, according to Tulio Carella, like two synchronized movements simulating the introduction of the phallus, and what follows... The figures are called " cutting... breaking...sitting". Why not just dance is horizontally?", Clemenceau might have said. In 1870's, the tango is rarely accompanied with words. If any, they are improvised, often obscene, and refer to local events. Comments on the birth of the tango are made by the privileged classes. Right-thinking people are fascinated by its sexual aspect, intellectuals feel a pang of nostalgia for this dismal, ruthless period, pregnant with proletarian art.
As early as 1903, Fray Mocho misses the tango-dancing tough guy (Compadre pendenciero)." the few survivors of some tragic events are no longer colorful characters...and we can hear the bell toll for the tango". (quoted Carlos Vega).
The origin of the word tango in unclear. The andalucian tanguillo used to be played in Spain, and the habanera, very fashionable in the nineteenth century was was often known as the tango americano. It could be an onomatopoeic word suggestive of the drum, particularity the African tom-tom. Tambo or tango was also the name given to the places where Africans celebrated. The spirit and the music of the tango originate in the spontaneous merging of several musical trends:
Argentina's traditional music, represented by the gaucho payador, an itinerant poet, guitarist and composer singing in the pulperias ( a shop, general stores, grocery, used in pampas as a meeting place).
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The Habanera, a creole music with a slight hint of Africans rhythms.' |
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The Candombe of Rio de la Plata's Africans ( 6000 blacks living in Buenos Aires in 1863). |
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The Milonga, born in Buenos Aires from mingling of former gauchos with immigrants. It echoes some of the strains of the Candombe; howeverthere is no drum, and the payador's guitar is italienized by strains of tarantella. |
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Italian music and songs are no doubt important, given that in 1895, Buenos Aires' population was 49% Italian. Many masters of the tango are sons of these immigrants. |
