sports dictionary Dance sports - TANGO

Dance sports TANGO Ballroom dance of a free nature and moderate tempo, in a bipartite meter, performed in pairs. Tango is characterized by a constant rhythmic pattern of accompaniment, against which a whimsically syncopated melody unfolds. Argentine tango originated around 1900 in the port taverns and other entertainment venues of Buenos Aires and other settlements located at the mouth of La Plata. The population of these places was made up of people from the West Indies and Negroes from Central America; it follows that the tango was preceded by earlier and more primitive dances of the West Indies, such as Habanera and tangano (from the latter tango may have borrowed its name). Around 1910, the tango became a favorite dance of Argentine high society, and a decade later it gained popularity in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in North America – despite objections from church leaders and moral guardians who considered it an indecent dance. In Europe, the melancholy melodies and unhurried elegance of tango, which came to the Old World in a refined and stylized form, made this dance a favorite of all dance halls; in North America, however, the tango retained its exotic flavor and was performed mainly by professionals. In the 1920s, European composers repeatedly used tango motifs. Spanish (gypsy) tango-a passionate solo flamenco dance-is performed mainly by Spanish Gypsies and, in fact, has little in common with the Argentine tango described above, although it bears the same name.