The man and woman face each other, with the man holding the woman's right hand in his left, and with his right arm around her. The Tango is the third dance to use this hold for couple dancing. The Viennese Waltz is the first dance done in this couple hold. It was very popular in Europe in the 1830's. Couple dancing before the Viennese Waltz was very formal and did not involve a lot of physical contact just mainly holding hands. About 10 years after the Viennese Waltz came the Polka. Also taking Europe by storm, the Polka became the newest craze to use this scandalous new hold. Tango was extremely different from anything that came before it, and was the biggest influence on all couple dancing in the Twentieth Century. The story of
By 1913, the tango had become an international phenomenon in Paris, London and New York. There were tango teas, tango train excursions and even tango colors—most notably orange. The Argentine elite who had shunned the tango was now forced into accepting it with national pride. It developed into a worldwide phenomenon. Everyone was doing it and it wasn't long until America was to. In the U.S.A. the women used "bumper", which was a sort of padding, to not rub to closely to the male dance partner. The dance appeared in movies and tango singers traveled the world. By the 1930s, the Golden Age of Argentina was beginning. The country became one of the ten richest nations in the world and music, poetry and culture flourished. The tango came to be a fundamental expression of Argentine culture, and the Golden Age lasted through the 1940s and 1950s. The tango became an art of Argentinean high society. Tango was reigning supreme in the cabarets and theatres frequented by the rich. Out of this culture, the tango musician became elevated to professional composer status.
"The 20th Century is a trash heap. No one can deny it," Was a famous line by Enrique Santos Discepolo a philosopher/singer of tango. It was in response to a military coup in 1930 that ended the citizen's right to vote. The people of Argentina felt as if they didn't have a say in anything anymore.
Tango revived in the late 1930's when the Argentinean masses