 Tango: creation of a cultural icon.
Author: Baim, Jo Published: 2007 Jo Baim here dispels common stereotypes of the tango and tells the real story behind this rich and complex dance. Despite its exoticism, the tango of the time period 1875 to 1925 is a very accessible dance, especially as European and North American dancers adapted it. Almost as interesting as the history of the tango is the cultural response to it: cities banned it, army officers were threatened with demotion if caught dancing it, clergy and politicians wrote diatribes against it, while newspaper headlines warned that people died from dancing the tango and that it would be the downfall of civilisation. |
