Argentine Tango is a dance that evolved in Argentina approximately in the 1880s. No-one knows for sure but there are narratives / posters dating to this period that mention the gauchos (Argentinian cowboys) and the Tango being danced. It is generally agreed to be from a melting pot of influences.
As the years went by, the Argentine Tango changed and developed to reflect the social climate and music of the time.
Today, Argentine Tango has 4 main rhythms:
The Tango
The Tango Vals
The Tango Milonga
The Tango Foxtrot (this predates the Ballroom slow Foxtrot)
These rhythms appear within the ‘styles’ of Argentine Tango. For example a Tango Vals (Waltz), could be from the Tango Salon or Milonguero period.
Here is a rough guide to the styles of Argentine Tango and the order in which they appeared.
The styles of Argentine Tango
The Orillero style
(Translated as close to the bank or riverside), is the oldest style of Argentine Tango. It’s the first expression of the original Tango - the embrace, the music and the musical interpretation is different from what is now called ‘Milonguero’, which was recreated in the 1990s when people returned to the Argentine Tango. The origins of the Orillero style stem from knife fighting and can even incorporate tiny jumps in a rhythmic capacity for both the follower and leader plus dramatic change of directions. Typically danced but not restricted to the music of Orquesta Tipica Victor, ‘Barilito’.
The Canyengue style
Is a style of Tango based on the ‘swagger’ or walk of various cultures in Argentina in the 1910s. During that era the Tango of the day was taken and exhibited on the stage and as a result became a ’pastiche’ of Tango. However there was also a serious side to the Canyengue. In the 1990s, Leo found his teacher Luis Grondona, who had researched the Canyengue and had rediscovered the beauty of this original style. He taught Leo the Canyengue based on this knowledge. The Canyengue style has a very different embrace and musicality and expression. Typically danced but not restricted to the music of Canaro or Los Tuba Tango.
The Milonguero style
The Milonguero style describes a type of dancing popular in the 1930s and 40s to music by orchestras such as D’Arienzo and Biagi. The music has a distinctive, staccato feel. The dance halls of the day were packed and the dancers danced in mainly close hold bringing out the musicality and rhythms of the music with their feet. Think of it as a working mans Tango, when Tango became respectable it became what is now regarded or known as Tango Salon.
Tango Salon
The Tango Salon style describes a type of dancing also popular in the 30s and 40s to music by typical orchestras such as Carlos di Sarli and Florindo Sassone. The music is elegant and more expansive than the Milonguero style. The dancing focused more on the melody.
The Nuevo style
Developed during the re-emergence of the Argentine Tango in the 1990s. Leo was living in Buenos Aires during this period and experienced the revolution of the Nuevo movement first hand as he regularly frequented the milongas!
The old Milongueros gave their knowledge to the younger generation who took old techniques and expanded them to create a more dynamic and fluid style. At that period, Nuevo was danced to extremely varied music including tracks of Piazzolla, Pugliese, Di Sarli and Mederos but now includes more recent bands such as Gotan project and Bajofondo.
The important thing to remember is that Argentine Tango is a cultural dance that changes continually with the times. It should not be considered as a dance that is ‘stuck in a bubble’, it breathes and changes to reflect the current climate and is an important part of society and the ever changing dance world.
