Argentine Tango The Argentine Tango is a genre of dance and form of art as complex as it is beautiful. It is traditionally a partner dance and is never performed with less than one partner. From the complex, technical footwork to the passionate looks and longing glances, Tango is more than entertaining: It steals the audience’s attention right away with its vibrant energy and keeps them locked in until the very end, satisfying the audience’s cravings for entertainment and leaving them overflowed with beauty. Tango dancers dedicate their lives to their art, perfecting their movements and improving the ease of chemistry with new partners. Tango has many layers to it, and each only improves it. Although native to Latin America, tango takes its origin from both European and African cultures. Candombe, an …show more content…
As previously mentioned, it was used to describe any musical gathering by slaves, and also it is theorized that Tango was derived that meaning because of a similar word, tambo, which means a place where slaves were kept. But why did “Tango” stick to what we know as tango, when Candombe and Milonga and countless other dances were also labeled tango by outsiders? It is commonly thought that it was the additional similarity with a common African dialects word “tango” meaning to touch, to feel, or to get close to. In Robert Farris Thompson’s book Tango: The Art History of Love, he mentions many other words from African dialects that Tango might have come from: to name a few, tanga meaning a festival marking the end of mourning, Tanganana meaning to walk, and tango dungulu, meaning to walk or show off. Although having a different spelling, tengo, the Spanish word for “I have”, is pronounced exactly the same. The etymology of this one word is complex and, despite showing no clear answer, the possibilities still give insight on its creation and the lives of its