The curtain rises on the streets of late 19th century Buenos Aires as a simple quadruple meter begins to ring. Two figures emerge from the darkness and begin to flow into a sensual, impressive dance. As he artfully guides her body around his own figure, a crowd begins to form, and soon there are more couples that join into this social dance. This is the scene for the beginning of the Argentine tango. The tango was not always the elegant dance reserved for famed ballrooms, but rather, it had its début on the streets of Buenos Aires with the poor of Argentina. Tango was the result of a booming agricultural economy with no one to work for it. The poor of Argentina were simply the already poor immigrants from Europe who sought a better life in the richness of Argentina. The influx of immigrants created dominantly male cities, and consequently, there were no women for the amount of men. Tango became the only way for men to express themselves romantically in a city where hardships flourished and hyper-masculinity was the key to survival. Although the tango was created in Argentina, it was not solely inspired by Argentine culture, but rather by a melting pot of cultures that were found in the community. The Argentine tango originated through the European immigrants who came to Buenos Aires, and eventually evolved into a dance, lyric poetry, and music that became a connotation for sensuality and joined the ranks of the waltz, the polka, and the foxtrot in the esteemed ballrooms of the world. (Denniston 11-4)
The tango was a tool of seduction even in its most early forms; its nature is to be used to attract. In Christine Denniston’s book, The Meaning of Tango, she describes the dance as “ a cornerstone of Argentinian culture” (15). Th...
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...he new aspects that were incorporated in some versions of tango, such as: the alternation of two melodies, changing phrases to accommodate cadences, continued triple-meter sections after establishing a duple meter. Triple meter became introduced in sections of different tango pieces as to incorporate the waltz (a famed tradition European dance) within the tango, combining the old with the new. Interestingly enough, as the tango spread internationally it was used in America and Europe with upbeat and more superficial lyrics, when traditionally in Argentina the tango was an inwardly reflective, emotional song. The adaptation of the tango from country shows the wide range of shapes and diversity that it can manifest, making it a universally friendly art form; it became something that people could make their own, while still remaining in the parameter of tango. (128-32)
The Waltz isn’t a new dance but the dance had evolved from what it was in the past and became less directional. The dance was meant to be a slower dance than all the popular dances of the 1920s and it was more passionate and romantic. The most popular ballroom dance style was the Foxtrot and it just so happened that it was the easiest dance also. This dance consisted of smooth walking and could be danced to both fast and slow jazz tempos making it easy to transition between the two whenever the music switches up. The Foxtrot can be danced with simple steps if that was how the person felt was better or it could be danced with a series of complex steps meaning that it was a customizable dance. The Tango is another popular ballroom dance and came from Argentina. It’s popularity skyrocketed after “Rudolf Valentino performed it for a movie named Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”(Nelson). The Tango arrived to the dance scene earlier than all the other dances, making its first appearance in 1912. The Tango was a passionate dance meant to be danced with a partner and the steps had a distinct vibe that added a sense of drama to the dance.There were also other popular mentions: The Shimmy which was banned from most dance halls because of its impurity and was also known in gypsy dances, The Black Bottom which eventually beat the Charleston and became the number
Romantic Ballet is the embodiment of ballet. In an era of war and suffering, the romantics found dance to immerse themselves in. It not only proved to be a reality escape for many individuals, but it changed their views of perception and thinking in a way never thought possible. According to Gayle Kassing writer of History of Dance, “Romantic Ballet provided the middle class with…escape from the drudgery of everyday life that came with the rise of industrialism.” As the social and political structure in society began to turn over, acceptance for new ideas became more easily attainable. Romanticism emphasized individuality, the irrational, and it protested against any mechanism that might ...
The Tango Blast is a clique that started forming sometime within the 1970s-1980s as a result of incarcerated Hispanic males banding together to protect themselves from previously established prison gangs, such as the Texas Mexican Mafia; the phrase “tango” is actually an acronym for “Together Against Negative Gang Organizations”. Members like to represent themselves with things associated to the cultures of the cities
The tradition still takes place today in many areas of Mexico. However, some parts of Mexico do the dance a little differently. The dance is more common in the central regi...
Rostas, S. (2009). Carrying the world: The concheros dance in mexico city. (pp. 21-209). Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
During the second phase, La Guardia nueva, or New Guard, tango became common popular in all social classes. Tango began to gain prestige and was present on the radio, in movies, nightclubs and cafes. This period lasted from 1920-1955. According to the text, tango underwent a “rags to riches” transformation, where it moved to upscale social scenes. A new style, tango cancion, evolved from this tango. Tango cancion emphasized the voice to highlight the expressive accents of the text and used a flexible sense of rhythmic ebb and flow (rubato) to do so. The instrumental accompaniment then became smoother and more polished because piano and strings enhanced the ensemble. The bandoneon, which once dominated the ensemble, now blended effortlessly with the other instruments. No single instrument stood out. The tango cancion used a standardized form with two equal and balanced sections. This highlighted th...
Wisner, Heather. “With a Hop, A Kick, And A Turn, Cumbia Enters the Global Stage.” Dance Magazine 80.9 (2006): 64-68. Humanities Abstracts (H.W. Wilson). Web. 7 Dec. 2011
The story explores many vital concepts accompanied by beautiful illustrations. I felt a strong sense of cultural understanding, spirituality and connection to family and land as though I was on this journey too. I could sense an underlying meaning in each dance, holding great importance to Bertie’s family and a strong connection to their culture. Pryor has attempted to fuse the then and now, by speaking of changes in the land, from a once spiritual gathering place, to a now busy town street where through food, they keep the culture alive (Pryor, 2010).
The instruments used for this song is of a standard rock band; lead vocalist, electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit. The genre for this song is determined by the steady and yet simplistic instruments used in this version. An interesting note is that the chorus is in the genre of rock but the verses combine the genres tango and reggae. This could be because merging these three different styles of music attracted the attention of youth more with rock being rebellious at that time and tango and reggae having a heavy beat for that time period. ...
In the piece the dancer is very distinctive and powerful in his movements. He often holds positions in an asymmetry stance which is a quality that comes from balancing ephebism. Ephebism is one of the five African aesthetics that applies vitality, power, flexibility, drive, and attack in its movements. The holding of the various positions requires great strength and demonstrates a stamina that is similar to the strength and stamina needed for the long hours that African dances are held for. Granted, the stamina and strength for African dances requires a much longer building period, however, training one’s body to hold and sustain an unnatural position is no small feat. In addition to this one characteristic of ephebism, the dancer’s arm movements throughout the piece adhere to an attack like jolting or sharp movement and further enhance the component of ephebism by creating the youthful movements that word ephebism correlates to. The flexibility in this dance piece is seen dramati...
The Folklorico group presentation I was honored to observed was the “Grupo Folklorico Juventud” from North Salinas High School. I decided to attend to this presentation because I use to be part of this Folklorico group. I also enjoy watching the dances for the reason that I believe they are beyond beautiful. It is amazing how a simple dance could transmit so much information while representing a region from Mexico. From my observation experienced, I noticed every region has different movements and customs for a reason. While observing the presentation I noticed most women used long skirts to create different shapes. They usually create the eight shape, half a circle or an entire circle which is created when the dancer does an entire spin while holding and moving their skirt. The skirt is also moved in different levels, such as high, medium, and low. The two levels that are used in most of the dances is the high and the medium level. While dancing the men and women usually do the same steps and movements. All the dances include “zapateados” which are known as foot dances or stomps. The “zapateados” are usually done with different parts of the feet such as the toe, heel and the sole of the feet. The dances include “zapateados” with different sections of the feet because every part creates a different sound. Most of the dances also include jumps and turns. It is extremely important for the
Overall time helped demonstrated the masses’ movement unity as they moved with the time and the individual’s struggle as she moved contrary to the group’s time. The dance began with a lively Bach movement, which created a feeling of excitement as the mass of dancers moved with increasing speed. The short duration needed to complete movements, regularity of the music, and repetition of dance patterns of the group established their synchronization with time. In contrast, this allegro tempo created a nervous, rushed feeling for the individual woman, which established her contradiction to the groups perception of time. The sharp, sudden adagio tempo change in Part 2 created an uneasy mood, while establishing distrust and tension between the individual woman and the masses. The stillness of the mass dancers in response to the woman in Part 2 exemplified this segregation. As the tempo slowed in Part 4, an element of sadness and isolation was apparent in the individual woman’s movement. In contrast, this tempo change for the group created an intimacy between the individual heterosexual couples. This intimacy further isolated the individual women and demonstrated her movement against groups perception of time. The changes in tempo of music and dance movement complimented the third element of dance, dynamics or
For my final project I decided to do a form of dance and that form of dance I chose is ballet. I decided to choose ballet because every since I was a little girl I always admired the how graceful and elegant the dances carried themselves on stage. Throughout growing up I gain knowledge from friends who did ballet and pointe that it is not as glamorous as it is perceived. Ballet dancers go through excruciating lengths to be as elegant they can be on stage and I condemn their strength and persistence to do this form of dance. I believe ballet is one of the most beautiful forms of dance because ballet dancers practice to perfection and on stage you can definitely see how passionate they are about this form of dance.
The fascination with exoticism was more and more prevalent within romantic compositions as there was an increased yearning for far off lands within the composer’s imagination. ‘Composers of such works were not terribly interested in authenticity; their primary concern was to create a picturesque atmosphere that would appeal to audiences.’(Machlis p.190) Bizet romanticized gypsy culture in his opera and through the character, ‘Carmen’. The libretto gives off ideas in relation to the emerging theme of ‘naturalism’, where much focus was given to the working class and their suffering. Carmen and the other gypsies don’t have that middle class virtue. ‘But they are seen against the exotic allure of Spain and Bizet’s music invests them with a human dignity.’ (Machlis192) In much of the art, music and literature of the 19th century the female gypsy, in particular was characterized and stereotyped as free-spirited, strong, deviant, demanding, sexually arousing, alluring and dismissive. This romantic construct of the Gypsy woman may be viewed as completely opposite to the proper, controlled and chaste, submissive woman held as the Victorian, European ideal. These descriptions are likened to the characters of Carmen in contrast to Micaela. ‘Carmen’ is all about women, especially women with exotic qualities who challenge the traditional morale. The women in ‘Carmen’ are seen not as passive but as active players in the social game. Carmen forever sings about freedom and love with no limits. ‘The freedom to travel, the freedom to exist – Carmen fights for the right to live.’(Feminist endings) The oriental fascination with the forbidden and taboo world of the gypsy other in music is characterized by the spontaneous dance-like rhythms, melodies and orchestration. Carmen’s most famous aria, ‘Habanera’ in which she tells of her conception of love, is a borrowed Cuban dance form, from Havana exhibiting Spanish flounces and likened to the ‘Tango’ dance style. The duple metre slow dance, lined with graceful dotted rhythms involves a lot of body movement and expression, characteristic of the gypsy. ‘Seguidilla’ also demonstrates the importance of dance to the gypsy culture, set in a typical ¾ rhythm and sung to a poetic verse form. The combination of guitar-like accompaniment, pizzicato on the strings laced with ornaments and triplets, gives the piece character and cheek, as Carmen taunts Don Jose to fall for her charms. The accelerating gypsy dance opening Act 2 uses dissonances and sliding harmonies, creating that colour and richness typical of the exotic influence.
Whether it is the fire dances of the native Hawaiians, or the Tango from Spain, dance is a part of every culture. This event is not an event I would usually attend. I am not into art of any kind except music. At first, there were two reasons I went to this performance.