Tango

The Meaning of Tango: The Story of the Argentinian Dance

From the backstreets of Buenos Aires to Parisian high society, this is the riveting story of the dance that captivated the world—a tale of politics and passion, immigration, and romance. The Meaning of Tango traces the development of the dance, from its birth in poverty-stricken Buenos Aires, through the craze of the early 20th century, right up to its recent revival today thanks to Broadway shows such as Tango Argentino. It also explains the techniques behind the dance and shows why mastering the tango is more like learning a language than a routine. For beginners or experts, dancers or armchair fans, this wonderful book is the perfect partner for enjoying the world's favorite dance.

Paper Tangos (Public Planet Books)

In PAPER TANGOS, classically trained dancer and anthropologist Julie Taylor examines the poetics of the tango, while recounting a life lived crossing the borders of two distinct and complex cultures. Drawing parallels among the violence of the Argentine Junta, tango dancing, and her own life, Taylor weaves the line between engaging memoir and cultural critique. The book's design includes photographs on every page that form a flip-book sequence of a tango. 89 photos.

Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home

Maria Finn's husband was cheating. First she threw him out. Then she cried. Then she signed up for tango lessons. It turns out that tango has a lot to teach about understanding love and loss, about learning how to follow and how to lead, how to live with style and flair, take risks, and sort out what it is you really want. As Maria's world begins to revolve around the friendships she makes in dance class and the milongas (social dances) she attends regularly in New York City, we discover with her the fascinating culture, history, music, moves, and beauty of the Argentine tango. With each new dance step she learns—the embrace, the walk, the sweep, the exit—she is one step closer to returning to the world of the living. Eventually Maria travels to Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango, and finds the confidence to try romance again.

As exhilarating as the dance itself, the story whirls us into the center of the ballroom dancing craze. And buoyed by the author's humor and passion, it imparts surprising insights about how to get on with life after you've lost in love.

Gotta Tango (Book & DVD)

Gotta Tango is a superior instructional package for learning how to dance the authentic Argentine tango at a social level. Master teachers Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart take you on a journey through the rich culture, history, and music of Buenos Aires that inspired the romantic passion, alluring creativity, and natural elegance of the Argentine tango dance. You will learn the fundamentals and roles each partner plays in this exhilarating and intimate social dance.

The book describes, illustrates, and explains the fundamental concepts and techniques, while the DVD visually demonstrates the concepts and movements of the tango in real dance situations with a partner. This combination provides tango lessons that are infinitely more effective than a stand-alone book or video product--and will have you dancing with confidence in less time than you thought possible.

Each tango dancer has a unique way of expressing movements. Gotta Tango offers a logical, structured approach that will help you learn quickly how to move spontaneously with a partner and with the music. It provides the tools you will use every day as a tango dancer as you immerse yourself in the experience, pleasure, and addiction of dancing the Argentine tango.

Tango: The Art History of Love

In this generously illustrated book, world-renowned Yale art historian Robert Farris Thompson gives us the definitive account of tango, "the fabulous dance of the past hundred years–and the most beautiful, in the opinion of Martha Graham.”

Thompson traces tango’s evolution in the nineteenth century under European, Andalusian-Gaucho, and African influences through its representations by Hollywood and dramatizations in dance halls throughout the world. He shows us tango not only as brilliant choreography but also as text, music, art, and philosophy of life. Passionately argued and unparalleled in its research, its synthesis, and its depth of understanding, Tango: The Art History of Love is a monumental achievement.

Skippy Blair on Contemporary Social Dance: Disco to Tango and Back/Plus Teacher's Breakdown for the Universal Unit System (Book and Cassette)

The Tao of Tango

The Tao of Tango is emphatically not a dance book, but rather the ultimate self-help book on the way men and women view relationships.

Written specifically to be accessible to both genders, [Johanna]...uses the Tango as a metaphor to describe the fragile balance of energies found in all interpersonal relationships, as they are perceived from the point of view of both sexes. The book includes physical exercises to help readers through the process of developing awareness of the self and of one's partner.

A "must" read for anyone desiring a balanced life and a loving relationship.

Dancing with the Stars: Jive, Samba, and Tango Your Way into the Best Shape of Your Life

Twice a week, millions of viewers tune in to watch the magical transformations undergone by their favorite entertainers through the beauty of dance—and now you can bring all that excitement, sparkle, and glamour into your own home.

Based on the hit ABC series, Dancing with the Stars has everything a fan of the show could want: never-before-seen pictures and stories from the stars describing their favorite moments on the show and how they trained for each week's competition; a behind-the-scenes tour of what goes into the all the hair, makeup, and costumes each week; a look at all the key dances performed on the show; and finally, a complete dance-based workout that helps you lose weight, get fit, and have fun. Filled with photographs and detailed instructions, this book will inspire you to take to the dance floor and get a dancer's body yourself. Anyone who has watched the show knows it doesn't matter if you're young or old, male or female, a talk-show host or a football player—this workout will get you in the best shape of your life.

Tango: A History of an Obsession

Delving into five hundred years of political, social, and cultural mores, the author offers a chronology of the evolution of the Tango as intricate as the dance itself. Readers are invited into a world as remarkable as it is compelling. The Tango originated in the slums of Buenos Aires as a partnered dance between two men and evolved into the most sophisticated, elegant and physically demanding social dance. Originally relegated to the lower classes, it eventually earned its place as a respected art form, embraced by millions of dancers and spectators around the world. From Argentina's early colonial period of the 16th century through civil and world wars, the rise and fall of dictatorships and democracies, to its years of near-disappearance and then resurrection, the history and mystic of tango has been captured in this meticulously researched book.

Tango!: The Dance, the Song, the Story

Born in the slums of Buenos Aires in the last decades of the nineteenth century, the tango--the most erotic, most passionate, most melancholy of dances--has remained spectacularly alive for more than a hundred years. Today it is the focus of a new cult, casting its spell throughout the Americas, Europe, the Pacific basin, and Japan. What is the secret of the tango's appeal? In Tango!, four experts from Europe, North America, and Latin America explore its fascinating history from the earliest beginnings to the present. Historian Simon Collier traces the tango's roots in Argentina and charts its rise from the brothels of Buenos Aires to become the quintessential expression of Argentine popular culture. The writer Artemis Cooper discusses the amazing tango craze of the 1910s in Europe and North America, while anthropologist Maria Susana Azzi looks at the tango's peak years in Argentina, the period from 1920 to 1950. Finally, Richard Martin, Curator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, charts the international boom in the tango's popularity in recent times. He looks, too, at the relationship of woman to man and man to woman in the tango. To match the spectacle of the tango, the book is illustrated with more than 250 photographs and drawings in color and black and white. Special features are built around the brilliant color photography of Ken Haas, recognized worldwide for his fidelity to the spirit of the dance. And as an evocative reminder of the rhythms of the dance, some of the most celebrated tango songs are discussed and quoted.