2772  Old tango note

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 19:06:36 -0600
From: romerob <romerob@TELUSPLANET.NET>
Subject: Old tango note

The following note published on the newspaper “La Nacion” from 1896 reveals
the new choreography, which Tango would subsequently adopt. It describes a
public dance at the theater “El Pasatiempo”. A reporter whose name does not
appear makes the following comment:



“The dance is attended by a mix of people: a lawless filmmaker, sun-tanned
men, and well to do young men. Here, the dance with “quiebre” is very
original. People dance la Habanera, la Milonga, la Polca, la Mazurca. How is
it danced? asked the reporter. He answers, criollo style, purely criollo,
ahead of everything like in this hydro-oxygenated country (Argentina). Those
who may have seen dancing with “corte” and “quebrada” have no idea of what
modern dance is about. The base is the rhythm and the intention is the
feeling. The choreography is soft, easy, wavy, and full of surprises in the
syncopating movement, which follows the musical syncopation. Each dancer and
each couple is a picture of changing attitudes. The forms are new within
these orilleros, name withstanding (…). The hand are used or not to embrace
their partner. In the first case, their bodies are separated to the farthest
possible distance. With hands clasped and stretched arms the cadenced
figures take place. In the second case, the man with his arms crossed behind
his back and at the waist level, which the woman mirrors it. With their
foreheads touching, the couple follows the general position of the dance.
Within this huge picture of typical characters each couple does their own
thing”.



This note is important because then the choreography applied to dance Tango
was not exclusive to Tango. The basic structure of the “corte” and
“quebrada” was American and it was shared by other dances. Tango originally
was danced using this *standard* choreography applied to other dances such
as la Polca, la Mazurca, la Habanera, el Chotis, la Cuadrilla, etc.



Source: Carlos Vega, “Acerca del origen de las danzas folklóricas
argentinas”, en: Revista del Instituto de Investigación Musicológica "Carlos
Vega", Nº 1, 1977, p. 9-10



Best regards,



Bruno