Tango

Tango is not only a dance style: the term describes a broader tradition of instrumental music, song, poetry and social practice. It is especially associated with the Río de la Plata basin and with the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Its forms range from social partner dancing to staged performance and concert music, and communities continue to adapt the tradition in different places.

Tango took shape in the late nineteenth century in the urban working-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Its beginnings are best understood as a process of cultural exchange rather than the invention of a single person or community. UNESCO describes a setting in which European immigrants, descendants of enslaved Africans and criollo communities brought customs and practices into contact. This mixture helped form a distinctive local expression, which later travelled far beyond the region.

Tango dance is performed by partners who coordinate movement through a shared embrace and a changing sequence of steps. In Buenos Aires and Montevideo, a milonga is a social gathering where people come to dance tango. Early tango ensembles used instruments such as flute, guitar and violin. The bandoneon, introduced into tango music in the early twentieth century, became an essential instrument in the genre. Tango music and dance have developed in several styles, from informal social practice to theatrical presentations.

Tango spread beyond the Río de la Plata and is now performed and taught internationally. Its continuing life depends on dancers, musicians, singers, composers, choreographers, teachers and audiences, as well as on social venues where people practise it together. In 2009, the tango tradition of Argentina and Uruguay was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The recognition describes tango as both a shared cultural inheritance and a living practice that changes as it enters new settings.