Facts about Tango
Each year the Tangomarkkinat, or tango festival, draws over 100,000 'tangophiles' to the central Finnish town of Seinдjoki, which also hosts the Tango Museum.
The tango is danced in very close full upper body contact in a wide and strong frame, and features smooth horizontal movements that are very strong and determined.
The melancholy tone of the music reflects the themes of Finnish folk poetry; Finnish tango is almost always in a minor key.
Music and dance elements of tango are popular in activities related to dancing, such as figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc., because of its dramatic feeling and its cultural associations with romance and love.
Ballroom tango steps are staccato, and generally follow a specific "slow, slow, quick, quick, slow" rhythm.
The head snaps are totally foreign to the Argentine tango.
Argentine tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras of Argentina and Uruguay.
The dance lived on in smaller venues until its revival in the 1980s following the opening in Paris of the show Tango Argentino and the Broadway musical Forever Tango.
In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipуlito Yrigoyen government in 1930 caused the tango to decline.
A newly-emerged butterfly needs to spend some time 'inflating' its wings with blood and letting them dry, during which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators.
The tango spread from the dominant urban dance form to become hugely popular across Finland in the 1950s after the wars.
Instructors of the period would sometimes refer to this as a "North American Tango," versus the "Rio de la Plata tango" also called "Argentine Tango."
The complex figures of this style became the basis for a theatrical performance style of the tango seen in the touring stage shows.
The ballroom tango's frame is more rigid, with the arms more tense and held higher.
The Argentine tango's frame, called an abrazo or "embrace," is not rigid, but flexibly adjusts to different steps, and may vary from being quite close, to offset in a "V" frame, to open.
In Argentine tango, the steps are typically more gliding, but can vary widely in timing, speed, and character, and follow no single specific rhythm.
Most other types of tango, such as the Finnish and Chinese, are close to the Argentine in their technique and vocabulary.
The term was fashionable and did not indicate that tango steps would be used in the dance, although they might be.
Tango is a social dance form originating in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay.
Argentine and ballroom tango use very different techniques and vocabularies, to the point where some consider them related in name only.
The tango declined again in the 1950s with the economic recession and with the military dictatorships banned public gatherings, followed by the popularity of rock and roll.
Ballroom tango, divided in recent decades into the "International" (English) and "American" styles, has descended from the tango styles that developed when the tango first went abroad to Europe and North America.
Subsequently the English tango evolved mainly as a highly competitive dance, while the American tango evolved as an noncompetitive social dance with an emphasis on leading and following skills.
Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango, Chinese tango, and vintage tangos.
By 1914, more authentic tango stylings were soon developed, along with some variations like Albert Newman's "Minuet" tango.
The musical styles that evolved together with the dance are also known as "tango music."
Instructors of the period would sometimes refer to this as a "North American Tango," versus the "Rio de la Plata tango" also called "Argentine Tango."