By Johanna Orca Handyside

Thanks to its exotic origins, sultry music and the creative spices that have flavored its development, the tango has moved from the slums of Argentina to the living rooms of millions of television viewers. Ballroom Tango is renowned for its inherent passion and restrained aggression and has gained newfound notoriety thanks to shows such as “Dancing With The Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” Due to this renewed fame, many people are strapping on their high heels and buttoning up their suits to discover the origins this dance and how to release its fire and poise.

The Tango is agreed to have developed around the turn of the late century and grew in the cities of Argentina. The dance may have inherited its risqué reputation from the Buenos Aires brothels, where it was supposedly created, and was considered too bawdy for popular social consumption. Another explanation is that the Tango was born not in but around these houses of ill repute, but by men aiming to woo the women inside. Street performers playing the flute, guitar, and violin supposedly provided the music that allowed the minds and bodies of different cultures to mix and mingle in creating this dance form. These artists and their music also laid the foundation for the seductive tones that accompany this explosive dance.

As knowledge of the Tango spread it found acceptance in other countries as well as varying social classes. In the early 1900s, the first Tango dancers from Buenos Aires took their show on the road to Europe, making their mark most notably in Paris. From this point, the dance spread to London and New York. The Ballroom Tango merged characteristics during these and other travels to create the forms that now compose it: International and American Tango. Its popularity soon grew wildly to the middle and upper classes, who soon revered it. The cause of this rapid rise was that the Tango was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before - it bordered the line between inappropriate and fashionable and broke the mold of the dances of the time.

The American Tango, considered the simplest form of the Tango, was named for the country where it was initially performed by leading man Rudolph Valentino in the 1921 film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is the highly stylized offspring of the Argentinean and International Tangos and is seen in social as well as competitive settings. The hold in the American Tango is typically closed but may open, allowing room for improvisation.  The positioning in this dance places the woman just to the right of the man with their hips in close proximity. The American Tango is based on slow steps, relying on quick steps for accent.

The International Tango, unlike the American form, is not as open in terms of position or improvisation. Also called the English Tango, it is performed on the competitive dance circuit and is chronicled in early English standardization manuals. It is a very advanced form of dance involving speed, aggression, and sharp movements. The International Tango is danced in a Smooth or Standard rhythm, far removed from its Latin origins and named because of the steady, unbroken vertical plane of the dancers; no dips or raises interrupt their elevation. Unlike the American form, the International Tango works on a base of quick steps with slow ones used in contrast. The hold in this dance is a strictly closed, and passionately punctuated with dramatic disdain towards one’s partner. 

As a regulated form of ballroom dance, Ballroom Tango always makes use of the promenade position, walks, and links, and others. The promenade position involves both dancers walking forward with mirrored footwork while maintaining their hold. A walk is self explanatory, but is done with the heels leading. Finally, links punctuate the previous motion, adding sharp movements between walks. When performing these or any other moves a dancer’s body stays perfectly in line with their foot at each step, moving resolutely on bent knees.

Ballroom Tango has a contested past, but the characteristics that define it are definite. From the backstreets of Buenos Aires to the brightly lit arena of prime time television, this dance form has overcome differences in class and sensibilities to gain fame as an aggressive and technically prized art form. It doesn’t only take two to Tango, though there are two kinds of Tango that can be found in the ballroom. The American Tango is danced socially, and in competition the International Tango takes the stage. These forms may be only two of the many that constitute Tango as an artistic subgenre, but they add an immeasurable amount of heat to cold television sets and tepid dance floors.