----- Original Message ----
> From: Jack Dylan <[email protected]>
> To: Tango-L <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thu, June 3, 2010 11:46:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Tango-L] The Time before Tango
> > From: RonTango
>> In Buenos Aires,
>> the birthplace of tango, near the end of the 19th
>> century, there was milonga and
>> there was the vals brought from Europe
>> by immigrants, but there was no tango.
> There appear to be
> different historical versions of this. My understanding is that
> milonga music
> predates tango - but only as music and song, without dance.
> And that milonga,
> as a dance, came after tango.
According to Simon Collier (1995) - "The Tango is Born: 1880s - 1920s", who
cites originally published sources in Argentina, milonga was a popular dance in
the outskirts of Buenos Aires around 1880. There was a 'tango' danced by
African-Argentines at that time, but it was danced apart. The compadritos
incorporated elements of the African-Argentine candombe (also danced apart)
into milonga. There was no 'tango' danced with contact between partners at this
time.
> Also, as I understand it, tango was well
> established by the end of the 19th century
> so I don't understand your
> statement that there was "no tango" near the end of the
> 19th century.
Considering the information provided by Collier and by Robert Farris Thompson
(2005)- Tango: The Art History of Love, tango in the form of canyengue came
into existence around the last decade of the 19th century (1890s).
Most tango historians confirm that the exact time of birth of tango is somewhat
difficult to establish, but it is generally agreed that there was a dance
called 'milonga' prior to tango. The was also 'vals', but this was the version
brought by immigrants from Europe. This was not the 'tango vals', which came
later, my guess is some time after tango was already established as a unique
dance. I don't have information on when this occurred.
Ron
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