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Originally the Tango was (and still is) light spirited Flamenco dance from Spain. With the Spanish conquest of much of South America, this Tango together with other Spanish folk dances naturally emigrated with settlers from Spain, although its involvement in the formation of the Modern Tango is suspect. The Tangano, an African dance imported with the negro slaves, is a more likely precursor (Andrews, 1979, 75). Over the years one or both became merged with other dances in the New World. In particular, in Argentina in the slums of Buenos Aires in the late 19th Century, they became merged with the Habanera (a folk dance from Havana in Cuba) (Norton, 1994,11/542). The resulting dance became known as the Milonga. |
 The private Milonga. |
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Although initially popular with the lower classes of Argentine society, by the turn of the 20th Century, it had gained acceptance with the upper classes there. It's importation into the upper classes of Western Europe was catalysed by France's greatest music-hall star: Mistinguett, who gave the first ever demonstration in Paris in 1910 (Collier, 1995, 69). Interest in the dance rapidly exploded as a "Tangomania", initially through Paris then London and New York. The first world war did nothing to cool this interest, with Rudolph Valentino popularising the Tango further in his film "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921). More recent film demonstrations have been given by Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar in "Scent of a Woman" (1992), and by Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Tia Carrere in the "True Lies" (1994). |
 Mistinguett |
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 Rudolph Valentino and Beatrice Dominguez Dancing the Tango in the film "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921).
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