Preview

Tango Dance Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1148 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tango Dance Research Paper
Rhythm
At the beginning, it would emulate some steps from the candombe and the dancing couples, instead of approaching each other, would get away from one another following the rhythm. The rhythm of tango is based on a 4/8 beat and dancing it only takes walking this basic nucleus of four steps following the rhythm. Figures can be added, but the most important issue in order to be a good dancer is to "walk the tango" and that means within the rhythm. The tango has a soft undulation and a bold rhythm. It is not danced at will or with stiffness. Argentine tango is very flexible and has no set rhythm at all. The leader is free to improvise and dance any rhythm that fits the music. He can suddenly pause and hold a position for dramatic effect.
…show more content…
as early as the 40s, where further cultivation took place in the New York City Latin population during the 1960 and 70s. Cuban and Puerto Rican communities throughout Latin America and the United States are responsible for shaping most of the steps we see today. The culture surrounding salsa also takes cues from the styles of mambo and rumba. The typical instruments accompanying salsa dance includes the thumping of congas, blaring trumpets, cowbells, timbales, and claves. Salsa is similar to Mambo in that both have a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The dances share many of the same moves. In Salsa, turns have become an important feature, so the overall look and feel is quite different form those of Mambo. Mambo moves generally forward and backward, whereas, Salsa has more of a side to side …show more content…
It originated in Spain or Morocco. The Tango was introduced to the New World by the Spanish settlers, eventually coming back to Spain with Black and Creole influences. In the early 19th Century, the Tango was a solo dance performed by the woman. The Andalusian Tango was later done by one or two couples walking together using castanets. Ballroom Tango originated in the lower class of Buenos Aires, especially in the "Bario de las Ranas". Clothing was dictated by full skirts for the woman and gauchos with high boots and spurs for the man. The story of Tango as told is that it started with the gauchos of Argentina. They wore chaps that had hardened from the foam and sweat of the horses body. Hence to gauchos walked with knees flexed. They would go to the crowded night clubs and ask the local girls to dance. Since the gaucho hadn't showered, the lady would dance in the crook of the man's right arm, holding her head back. Her right hand was held low on his left hip, close to his pocket, looking for a payment for dancing with him. The man danced in a curving fashion because the floor was small with round tables, so he danced around and between them. The dance spread throughout Europe in the 1900's. Originally popularized in New York in the winter of 1910 - 1911, Rudolph Valentino then made the Tango a hit in 1921. As time elapsed and the music became more subdued, the dance was finally considered respectable even in Argentina. In

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Limon Dance Company is the nation's oldest modern-dance company. Jose Limon established Limon in 1946. In the beginning the company only survived by word of mouth but eventually grew to be one of the Nations best and well-known Modern Dance Company's. The Limon Dance Company survived with many of its original dance's intact, these dances preserve the legacy of mid-century choreographers and showed the Company's talent. The three pieces that the Limon Company performed were Champion, The Winged, and The Moor's Pavane.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Salsa music is a popular dance music that initially arose in New York City during the 1960s. Salsa is the product of various musical genres including the Cuban son montuno, guaracha, cha cha chá, mambo, and to a certain extent bolero, and the Puerto Rican bomba and plena.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bachata Dance Research

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The leading is done like in most other social dances, with a “pushing and pulling” hand and arm communication. The original dance style from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean is a basic dance arrangement in a full 8 count moving within a square. Others in the Western dancing world later developed a more simple style and pattern, which incorporated dance elements from other dances as well. The basic is also in a full 8 count, but with a side to side motion. Both of these styles consist of 3 normal steps and then a tap step, which is often accompanied by a “pop” of the hips, and can sometimes be substituted with syncopations. The music has an accent rhythm at every 4th count, this is normally when the dancers will tap-step and pop their hips- this is called dancing Bachata to the basic rhythm of music. Bachata can be danced to other music as well if the dancers just focus on a particular instrument. The early slow style of the 50s was danced only closed, like the Bolero. The Dominican style of Bachata is danced today all over…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I want to inform my audience about my experience teaching the Quinceanera’s Court to dance for my daughter’s Fifteen Birthday party.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Timba Sasa Style

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The third salsa style is the Colombian style. The music style is very fast is a good rhythm to dance. This style is very intimate for the dancers because they have to“…dance really close, the bodies of the two dancers glued together – almost completely touching each other, from head to toe”. This type of dance was created because the dance floor was so crow that there was not space to dance apart or to do big spin, so they have to do small spin and always be close to one…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many different cultures and individuals have influenced the Salsa into the dance it has become today. A large part of the dance originated in Cuba, but it also has some French and English roots in it as well. It mixed with various African rhumbas and drumbeats in many places occurred in many places, yet it Cuba was the largest scale. It was around the time of World War II when the dance entered some areas of Mexico City and New York. In fact, while it traveled around in New York, the dance acquired the name “salsa.” Around the ‘60s and ‘70s, the music really began to become popular with several Latin musicians began to use the dance music in their albums and refer to it as “Salsa.” There are many versions of the Salsa dance,…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hope

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Latin American musicians greatly influenced Jazz musicians in the early part of the twentieth century, and this gave birth to the Latin-jazz genre at the time. Modern dancing styles also originated from the Latin America jazz moves that were combined with an afro-Cuban beat…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first form of step dance was born in South Africa by gold miners in the late 19th century. These gold miners were taken from their homes and forced to work. They were gathered from nearby countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Malawi. Not one of them would see home again. They were imprisoned and would be chained to their work stations with shackles and would go for months at a time working in near total darkness down in the mines.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Colombian traditional dance has much to do with their culture and history.It can be traced back to the sixteenth century. Colombia culture has many different varieties of Colombian dance. The popular styles are: Vallenato, Salsa, Cumbia, and Bambuco. Vallenato is more known for having the popular rhythms. Salsa is the native rhythm part, from Barranquilla. Bambuco represents the Andean zone of Colombia, And is performed mostly in trios or duos. Cumbia is the most popular, especially if one wants to go to watch something more traditional. Cumbia is most well-known , and represents Colombian dance for the world. With a mix of Spanish and African, it's hard to resist wanting to dance along to Cumbia dancers.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many different types of dances that Hispanic culture has produced. Dances such as, the salsa. The salsa originated in the Caribbean more specifically Cuba although other Hispanic countries have added different variations to better fit their culture. The salsa is similar to a different Hispanic dance that dance is called the mambo both the…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the influence the Hispanics had on disco by add couple dancing, both solo and coupled dancing were used in the Disco Era. The first eight years coupled disco dancing was very popular but that changed during 1978. “…To quote Maria Torres, a disco dancer from NYC, "The thing which really killed partner dancing was Saturday Night Fever. It was originally an underground dance, done mainly by Hispanics, blacks and gays, who could really do partner dancing. They were incredible, but that was an underground thing. Then when Saturday Night Fever came out, the masses flocked to the clubs to experience what they saw in the movie. But what they thought the Hustle was was freestyle, because that's what John Travolta did.”(Powers). Although some people still did couple disco dancing it had been overshadowed by freestyle solo disco dancing for the last two years of the disco craze. Dances that also had an influence on disco dancing were the Mambo & the…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I understand that for South Americans, Central Americans and Caribbean the dance style can be slightly different but of what I have noticed it seems the same for most part. Salsa is focused on foot work and hip movement, the dance movement are not choreographed they are fully leadable in the dance floor, depending how well you interact with your partner. The common step in salsa dance is giving a step forward, with one leg going to the front and the otherone staying back, then bring both leg together and use the opposite leg and take a step back and repeat the process while the hip is moving side to side. One of my hall mates my first year in college asked me if I knew “how to salsa?” she asked me if it was hard and I told her that everything is based in following the rhythm. I took my laptop and searched for salsa dancing videos to show her what I was talking about, to my surprise most of the videos were of dance competence that most of the time only performed acrobatic movements. I told my friend, “that is not salsa, that’s gymnastic,” I was in shocked to realize that some people would actually think that does how you really dance salsa. In ballroom competition salsa is shown as sport more than a dance, which can have mixed reactions to Latin cultural practices. In most parties, carnivals and clubs that I have been part of I never saw brutal movement while people dance salsa, there are no lifts, throws and tricks it is not about showing off skills, it is about enjoying the moment. According to James O. Young on his article “Profound Offense and Cultural Appropriation” when an outsider represents another member or aspect of another culture is committing subject appropriation. (136) his definition of appropriation represents what these type of competitions are doing which is letting the outsider represent a culture that they probably lack the vision that people of the culture possess, they are misrepresenting a…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Blues and Music

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Music has been around for the ages but the question arises how has it had an impact on how it has been able to shape American cultures and values. We have been able to see through the years how it has aided in the shaping of identities, providing comfort when there was no other means from childhood to adulthood. It has been during this time that we have been able to see how it has affected relationships between parents and their children, schools and government all because of persons not approving of perhaps lyrics, sounds or even what those two areas may have caused young people to do in regards to dancing. Even back in the early twentieth century, young persons were condemned by religious leaders because of the Tango, a dance that was allegedly causing a negative impact on the French youth. However, now it is a form of ballroom dancing and is viewed with high esteem when performed. Other music and dances that would fall in line with the Tango would be the Charleston and jitterbug. Both were inspired from jazz music however, it was recognized then as music and dancing that inspired unrestrained dances. Again these dances and music now are ever so accepted within the American culture.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Belly dance is the western word for the Arab dance. In Arabic, belly dance is brays sharqi meaning, dance of the countryside. Belly dance also deals with the movement of the torso and abdomen, which are the most dominate characteristic movement of this dance.…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bachata

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Originating in the Dominican Republic, Bachata is a Latin dance based of a four-count beat. In recent years, Bachata has gained popularity in the United States alongside the salsa. When I was twelve years old I was introduced to this rhythmic dance. Its simplicity, soothing rhythm, and fun beats made me fall in love with this dance. Not only is Bachata fun, but anyone can do it! It is as easy as 1-2-3-4. Anyone can dance just close your eyes, feel the rhythm, and start with the steps. Nobody needs anything but a beat in your head and three steps worth of space. Bachata can be dance alone, with a partner, in the kitchen, at a park, or on the dance floor. However, if you are on a dance floor, be aware of those around to avoid unintentional crashes.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays