Tango Overview:
Perhaps the most complex and fascinating musical and dance tradition to emerge in Argentina—specifically in Buenos Aires—is the tango. Its origins date back to the 1700s, from the Creole contradanza and habanera of Cuba, to the African-derived milonga and Uruguayan candombe. All of these predecessors had one thing in common: they were drumming forms; and yet, as the tango evolved it would remain devoid of this important African link—at least until the 21st century.
The word "tango" is derived from the Ki-Kongo language meaning "to move in time to the beat." Its history is shaded in darkness—from slavery to prostitution, the tango represented the "underclass" of Buenos Aires, and was originally a male dance performed in the brothels when it formally emerged around 1877. At first ridiculed or parodied, it made its way up the social ladder, finally receiving acceptance not in Argentina, but in Paris in the 1920s. As the dance genre began to gain recognition in Buenos Aires, a song form also developed paving the way for the tango song, which saw its golden age through interpreters such as Carlos Gardel.
An important link in Argentine society and politics, the tango was interpreted by several different instrumental ensembles over the coming decades of the early 20th century—from a single guitarist-singer to full-blown orchestras. But the most significant musical grouping to interpret the form was the sexteto, which consisted of two bandoneones (an accordion relative closer to a concertina), two violins, piano and double bass or cello. The group Sexteto Mayor is one of the most popular groups to maintain the traditional sexteto format today. In the mid-1950s, an avant-garde variety of tango was developed by composer and bandoneón player Astor Piazzolla, who merged the style with European contemporary and classical forms as well as American jazz, resulting in most tango scholarship dividing the periods roughly as "before and after Piazzolla."
Recently, contemporary groups have begun mixing the tango with drums—from Uruguayan candombe drums to the Peruvian cajón and even synthesized and sampled drum beats. Several musicians have explored the renewed potential of the tango in the newest craze: tango nuevo. While traditional tango is still danced throughout Buenos Aires (and many places around the world), it seems that the drums have returned to the tango in its next incarnation. —Rebeca Mauleon
