History of the tango

Tango, a distinctive

Even though the present forms developed in Argentina and Uruguay from the mid 19th century,[8] there are earlier written records of Tango dances in Cuba and Spain,^[9][10] while there is a flamenco Tangos dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance.^[5] All sources stress the influence of the African communities and their rhythms, while the instruments and techniques brought in by European immigrants played a major role in its final definition, relating it to the salon music styles to which Tango would contribute back at a later stage, when it became fashionable in early 20th century Paris.

Argentina’s Immigration Policy in the 19th Century

In Argentina, the word Tango seems to have first been used in the 1890s. In 1902 the

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Argentina experienced a significant wave of immigration that transformed its demographic composition. The immigration policy at the time was shaped by the Argentine elites’ desire to promote economic growth, their need to populate its vast territories, their aspiration to become a modern and civilized nation, as well as their racial and nationalist ideologies that sought to establish a homogenous and European-based population.[12] To attract immigrants, the Argentine government implemented various measures, such as offering free land, providing financial incentives, and establishing immigration agencies in Europe.^[12]

However, this influx of diverse immigrants also led to social tensions and conflicts which engendered nationalist movements that sought to promote a “pure” Argentine identity aimed to exclude the more inferior immigrants.^[12] Under the Argentine government's efforts to Europeanize and modernize the country, those who did not fit the “pure” and civilized image of the Argentine identity were excluded from urban centers like Buenos Aires and gradually pushed to the arrabal, the suburbs between urban and rural areas.^[13] It was in these arrabales that different marginalized groups converged while expressing themselves in dances.^[14] They frequently met in “tangos” where whites and people of color played music and danced together.^[15]  Afro-Argentines and the other working-class populations were especially crucial in shaping the emergence of tango by combining the different influences, including the milonga, the condombe, payada.^[14][16]

Becoming A National Symbol

At the beginning of its history, tango was looked down upon by the Argentine elites for a number of reasons. First of all, tango's associations with marginalized groups, especially the immigrants and people of African descent, who were considered lower-class and uncivilized, made tango the dance form seem vulgar and immoral, thus unsuitable for respectable society.^[16] Additionally, tango was also closely associated with brothels and bars of Buenos Aires, which the elites also considered disreputable.^[16] Many of the early tango lyrics and moves were considered to be too sexually suggestive, exacerbating the elites’ disdain for the dance.^[16] These characteristics of tango significantly deviated from the Argentine elites’ nationalist agenda to promote an image of Argentine identity that emphasized European sophistication and refinement.^[16] Consequently, the elites saw tango as a threat to their cultural hegemony.

During the period 1903–1910 over a third of the 1,000

By 1912, dancers and musicians from

In 1917, folk singer Carlos Gardel recorded his first tango song Mi Noche Triste, forever associating tango with the feeling of tragic love as revealed in the lyric. During the first decade of the 20th century, some songs under the name of tango were recorded, but these recordings did not achieve great popularity. However, in 1921, 'El Sonido de la Milonga' helped bring about the rise of tango, and introduced it properly as a form to the people.

Classically trained musicians weren't associated with tango music until