[Tango-L] The spread of tango

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

--- On Thu, 6/9/11, Alexis Cousein <al at sgi.com> wrote:

On 09/06/2011 10:22, johnofbristol at tiscali.co.uk wrote:
> Yes I see what you mean, but my understanding is that Ballroom and
> Argentine tango were the same thing a century ago, and have developed
> in different directions.

That's not how I see it at all. Argentine tango was a social
dance and  without an official syllabus, and even though
Ballroom tango was derived from it, it was nevertheless
changed dramatically from the start (amongst others, by
adopting a very different embrace and posture and by
largely abandoning the particular emphasis on playful
musicality and improvisation).


~~~

I think this is what John means.  That there was no tango in the European countries.  Tango came.  Got changed into ballroom tango.  In Finland, it became Finnish tango.

I'm guessing that Argentine tango as we know it disappeared as ballroom tango took over.  There were German tango bands and Russian tango, but they disappeared after the war. Perhaps after WWII, there was more interest in American culture that started to move in the local culture (especially in Germany).  I'm just guessing here.  

It seems pretty clear that Tango Argentino's tour in the late 80's reintroduced Argentine tango to Europe, Japan, Australia and the States.  I can only surmise that the ballroom studios had a hand in spreading the genre initially.  A search on the internet on tango in Japan points to 1987 as the first year a Japanese couple started teaching locally.  

As Romero pointed out, Danel & Maria Bastone in NY had milongas (other Argentines had milongas in other cities, as well, but they were small).  I'm guessing that these were initially oriented toward Argentines and intended as ethnic gatherings.  Danel & Maria have been around since the 1960's.  

When Tango Argentino toured in 1985, ballroom studios became interested.  Paul Pellicoro writes that the first classes in NYC were with cast members of the show, with the first students being ballroom instructors.  (Perhaps he didn't know about Danel & Maria or perhaps Danel & Maria only did milongas?)  Trenner just happened to be in BsAs in 1986, starting learning tango, and began traveling and teaching it.  Unlike ballroom teachers, he wasn't tied down to one studio and could move around.

Perhaps the sheer geographic size of the U.S. required someone like Trenner to spread the word and help small communities after Tango Argentino passed through.  Japan and European countries are much smaller, so the ballroom studios were sufficient until more independent instructors appeared.

John in Australia points to a second wave with The Tango Lesson (1997) movie and Forever Tango (late 1990's) stage show.  (I started tango in 1995.)

Alexis' comment about the lack of musicality as tango started in Flanders echos some thoughts of Pellicoro, who writes "By the end of the class on that historic afternoon, however, a sudden revelation occurred to all of us.  We realized that our teachers weren't as inadequate as we thought...In that first class they taught us an important lesson that many of us had all but forgotten:  That dancing must be connected to a feeling inspired by the music."

Here in the States, I'd have to point to Susana Miller who emphasized musicality and brought along a bunch of music that people could purchase.  Getting music pre-internet days was really difficult.  

Others with older memories are welcome to correct me on any of these points.


Trini de Pittsburgh