Tango!: The Dance, the Song, the Story - Hardcover

Cooper, Artemis; Azzi, Maria Susana; Martin, Richard; Collier, Simon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500016712 ISBN 13: 9780500016718

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 1995

Synopsis

"Exquisite publication, written by respected scholars and artist, combines scholarly research with a pleasant writing style. Covers tango's history from early-19th century to the present, addressing tango's spread into Europe and North America and its 'golden age' in Buenos Aires from the 1920s-50s; also discusses topics such as tango and 'machismo,' and the tango revival in film, theater, and literature. Includes an extended bibliography and discography. Richly illustrated with facsimiles, reproductions of drawings, paintings, and photographs. For review by Pablo Vila, see Lat. Am. Music Rev., Vol. 18, No. 1, 1997, p. 113-123"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.http://www.loc.gov/hlas/

About this title

From Booklist:

The tango smacks of elegance and sophistication, but that was not always the case. The tango was born in the lesser quarters of Buenos Aires in the late nineteenth century, first danced by prostitutes and pimps, and took years to win the "battle for social acceptability." This unbridled dance is chronicled in a book that is equally unrestrained, abounding in exciting illustrations and grounded in a lively text by four authorities. In the 1880s, as we learn here, an economic boom sent Argentina zooming to the top ranks of wealthy nations, and its capital was transformed into a beautiful metropolis, but the city also played host to thousands of European immigrants whose lives were not lived in beauty. In this less-than-respectable ambience sprouted a new and very sexy dance; the "connection between the tango and the brothel is inescapable." It took the tango's transfer across the Atlantic to Paris in the years immediately prior to World War I to render it not only respectable but chic. Back to Buenos Aires it came, and in the 1930s, not only the dance but the musical form associated with it enjoyed a golden age; the authors profile the famous singers and dancers who emerged during that flamboyant era. The tango lives on, for according to the authors, "There will never be a last tango." Brad Hooper

Review:

The evolution of tango as a dance and music is covered, from its birth in the slums of Buenos Aires to its growing familiarity in world dance and music circles. Plenty of black and white and color photos liberally display the dance's movements, spicing chapters which cover key figures in the dance's development and promotion. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0500016712
• ISBN 13: 9780500016718
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208
• Editor: Collier Simon, Haas Ken