[Tango-L] What is Tango?

[Tango Mail]

Alex wrote:

"re: From: "Tango Society of Central Illinois" 
Subject: [Tango-L] What is tango?

A] No - this is ballroom or "American" tango - a competitive "event".
B] No - Finnish tango is based on ballroom
C] Practica X - Yes and No. - Nuevo, it's close...very close...
D] Milonga @ El Beso - Yes, most definitely. Social argentine tango as it
has been for 80 years or so...."

Alex (and original poster),

They're all tango.  The origin of tango for all styles is the same: Argentina.
Today we have several variations of the dance:  Argentine, International, American,  Finnish, and some
might even argue for Uruguayan Tango.
But only in one place is tango the national pastime: Finland.  There are also more tango dancers
in Finland than there are in Argentina.  The world's largest tango festival also takes place in Finland.
Finnish tango, however, IS NOT based on ballroom tango - it is based on tango as tango looked and
was danced in 1910-20. Just look at video clips of old movies from 70-100 years ago where they 
dance tango.  You'll see kicks, dips, and even promenades, all of which have remained in the
Finnish style but "evolved" out of A.T.  One thing you must know about the Finns, is their stubbornness;
change don't come easy: if they found what works in 1916 why change it? Heck.. even the women
and the men are still separated and don't intermingle (least in the dance halls).
The Finnish embrace is also like that of the Argentine tango.  American and International tango
connect at the belly, lower rib cage, and the hips.

Tango was brought to Finland by an upper-class Danish couple, who had learned it in Paris from the 
visiting dancers from BsAs sometime between 1912 and 1916, I forget exact year.
Argentina in those days sent 'ambassador's' to Europe to lure more people
to emigrate to Argentina and to show the new and wonderful things that they were doing down there
in South America.  The couple demonstrated this new, wonderful, way of dancing to the 
Helsinki uppercrust, who took it to their hearts immediately, and a love affair was born.

This back-and-forth relationship between the old world and the "new world" is also why the Tango Vals is as fast as it is.. 
they took the waltz elements from Europe and mixed them in with the tango.  
Back then, of course, there were no variants of waltz.  The speed at which waltz used to
be danced and played is today called the Viennese Waltz, and the slower version is called 
Standard/Ballroom/American Waltz.

American and International tangos were born from the masses desire to learn to dance it.  It had to be standardized,
packaged, to easily sell to the flocks of sheep.  Steps were invented, named, numbered. They were printed on
sheets and in books to copy and mimic. You could tape foot marks on the floor and step on them to memorize
the steps into muscle memory.  This is how a great horde of people learned to dance a wide variety of dances
back when private instruction was for the 1% of populace who had the most money.  International style came first,
and is closest of the two to original form.  American version is an edited version of the International style.  
Think of it as third-hand gossip - the story changes every time and fish gets bigger and bigger.  It's like making
a copy of a copy or trying to blow up a small digital photographs, which might be something you'd relate to better.

Of all the styles, the Finnish tango is closest to the original roots, as it changed very little. The music
changed from a major key to a minor key but the lyrics are almost always the same they are in
Argentine tango; stories of broken hearts, losing bets at the horse races, how they made poor choices,
and how they miss the homeland when they go away, etc, etc, etc.  In fact, a great many
Finnish tango songs are simply recomposed and translated Argentine tango songs.  The golden era
for authentic Finnish tango music and the making of was from 1930 through the 50s.

Korey hit the nail on the head by saying how the tango has evolved over the last few decades constantly
and how Pedro from A thinks he is dancing authentico whilst Pablo from B thinks A is crap and B is god's gift.
I've talked to old dancers from Argentina and some have said that the nuevo elements and ochos and boleos are
all very recent developments, evolved steps after they were again "allowed" to dance after the tango ban was
lifted, and others who say those moves have always been part of the dance through the time from 
the days of the first sausage war.  However, I would again refer to the movies of olden days: I haven't picked
up on too many boleos... although I can hardly watch an entire movie from even 1970 not to mention 1910,
so admittedly I may have missed something.

Here's a few links to styles of old:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKQ06jtaYvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r55zMPlPWng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCV16hC0ZW4

JK, who does not, incidentally, dance the Finnish Tango.