Let's Tango!

Now, that we got started with Latin music, let's segue into the Latin dances that've been created out of them. There are many. There's the tango of Argentina, habanera/bolero of Cuba, mariachi of Mexico, samba and bossa nova of Brazil, and of course, the other dances also considered Latin, namely, cha cha, rumba and merengue.

Let's tango, then, for starters.

Tango is the national dance of Argentina, thus the name, Argentine tango. It has been a favorite dance of both professional dancers and of those, well, who just want to dance. Tango is so sensuous; so ethereal, so closely-danced or danced-apart.

The Free Encyclopedia, Wikipedia tells us the following about this dance:

" Argentine tango is a social dance and a musical genre, that originated in Argentina, and moved to Uruguay and to the rest of the world later on. In the US, it is commonly confused with ballroom tango, though this is a later derivation."

It further says, " As most dances have a rational-pattern which can be predicted by the follower, the ballast of previous perceptions about strict rules has to be thrown overboard and replaced by a real communication contact, creating a direct non-verbal dialogue. A tango is a living act in the moment as it happens."

I remember my mother telling us when we were kids, that when they were young girls, they were wary of dancing the tango, lest they got tricked into the famous "tango dip." I did not understand any of those, of course.

The country of tango, Argentina, is immortalized in so many ways. First, by its national dance; second by the famous widow of Juan Domingo Peron, Evita ( Don't cry for me, Argentina); and third, the issue that the country could have sheltered some Nazis who fled Europe after the fall of Hitler's Third Reich.

The dance has also been the subject in many films, such as:

• Adiós Buenos Aires (1938)


• The Tango Bar (1988), starring Raúl Julia


• The Tango Lesson (1997), starring Sally Potter and Pablo Verón, directed by Sally Potter


• Tango (1998), starring Cecilia Narova and Mía Maestro, directed by Carlos Saur


• Assassination Tango (2002), starring Robert Duvall, Luciana Pedraza, Rubén Blades and Kathy Baker, directed by Robert Duvall


• Orquesta Tipica (2005), documentary film about typical orchestra Fernandez Fierro, directed by Nicolas Entel


• 12 Tangos - Adios Buenos Aires (2005), directed by Arne Birkenstock; and


• El Ultimo Bandoneon (2006), directed by Alejandro Saderman

Geographically, Argentina is located in the southern hemisphere, so if you live in North America, the seasons are reversed. If it's winter time in Canada, it would be summer time in Argentina. So, if you're planning to travel in Argentina, the hottest months will be around New Year's and the coldest will be around mid-year.

Of course, as with any endeavor, learning tango or travelling to any country, requires careful planning. One has to find the time and enroll in a class, or for travel, schedule a time off from work, take stock of previous travel/social/business engagements, or even planned health interventions. That's today's living, anyways, multi-tasked.

But anything is doable. Tango. Argentine tango. Possible.