Born on the unlit streets of Buenos Aires, tango was inspired by the music of European immigrants who crossed the ocean to Argentina, lured by the promise of a better life. It found its home in the city’s marginal districts, where it was embraced and shaped by young men who told stories of prostitutes, petty thieves, and disappointed lovers through its music and movements. Chronicling the stories told through tango’s lyrics, Mike Gonzalez and Marianella Yanes reveal inTangohow the dance went from slumming it in the brothels and cabarets of lower-class Buenos Aires to the ballrooms of Paris, London, Berlin, and beyond.
Tracing the evolution of tango, Gonzalez and Yanes set its music, key figures, and the dance itself in their place and time. They describe how it was not until Paris went crazy for tango just before World War I that it became acceptable for middle-class Argentineans to perform the seductive dance, and they explore the renewed enthusiasm with which each new generation has come to it. Telling the sexy, enthralling story of this stylish and dramatic dance,
Tangois a book for casual fans and ballroom aficionados alike.
Mike Gonzalezis professor emeritus of Latin American studies at University of Glasgow in Scotland.Marianella Yanesis a Venezuelan writer, journalist, and playwright. She wrote soap operas for a number of Latin American television channels and worked in theater for many years.
Prologues
1. Strangers in the City
2. A City Divided
3. Tango Goes to Paris
4. Tango Finds Its Voice
5. Gardel and the Golden Age
6. The Dying of the Light
7. Astor Piazzola and Tango Nuevo
8. The Long Road Home
Chronology
References
Select Bibliography
Discography and Filmography
Acknowledgements
Copyright AcknowledgementsIndex
“The authors follow the dance through its increased sophislS(
![Tango: Sex and Rhythm of the City [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/8/5/5/2_5230455.jpg "Tango: Sex and Rhythm of the City [Paperback]")