Tango in Argentina

It's origins

Tango is the most sensual of dances. It is far more erotic that any other dance. Tango is very closely linked to the history of Buenos Aires, the country's capital. During your trip to Argentina you will have the chance to delve deeper into tango.

At the beginning, in the 1880s, tango was imported by European immigrants. To start with it was usually only danced in brothels and only by men! At that time, tango was a working class pastime and the middle classes wanted none of it. It wasn't until women started dancing it and it became immensely popular on the other side of the Atlantic in Europe that Argentina made it a symbol of national pride.

Before it became sung in lunfardo, Buenos Aires slang, tango was simply a musical form, played on the guitar, flute, violin, bandonéon (a type of concertina) and the piano. Between 1913 and 1935 Carlos Gardel was famous for singing tango and even today he is considered the greatest tango singer ever. A source of great pride, Carlos Gardel was originally from Toulouse in France but he lived in Buenos Aires.

Because it is considered too erotic tango has often been condemned. For example, by the Catholic church in 1929 and by the army in 1955.

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David Debrincat

Nowadays

Tango gives off a feeling not just of eroticism but of real tension and sexual energy.

In Buenos Aires you can see couples dancing in the streets in the tourist areas like La Boca, or Pplace Dorrego in San Telmo. Or you can watch the best tango in the capital's famous milongas. If you want to learn the basics you can take lessons. But don't expect miracles, unless you are incredibly gifted, it will take you years of intensive lessons before you become expert.

Since 2009 tango has been inscribed on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list. Nowadays, the tense bodies, backward thrusting heads and chest, legs and feet that wrap round each other and lips that meet without ever touching are a declaration of love for a monunment of Humanity.