Buoyancy » Dance

Tangos

Viewed through the flamenco family tree, tangos originated mainly from the Romani music branch. This accounts for the sharp, accented movements, the strident sound, and the performance's focus on rhythm rather than melodic quality. The song or dance usually begins with clapping in the above-mentioned rhythm and continues throughout the entire performance, accentuating moments of climax and relaxation.

Every Tuesday evening at the flamenco dance studio Duende we learn Lidija's tangos dance technique and choreography under the direction of teacher Ilvija. It is not at all as easy as it initially appears when watching the Spanish dancers from the sidelines. Many sharp, rhythmic, fast foot stamps.

No wonder - looking into the etymology of the dance's name, I discovered that the root "tang" directly means a loud, definite sound produced by a percussion instrument. It is not without reason that the tangos dance is often accompanied by a percussionist's playing. Another origin of the word could be from the Latin "tangere" - "to touch". The word "tango, tangos" was used to denote the dance on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, but the connection of tangos to the Argentine tango has not been proven.

Tangos originated in Cádiz - a south-western port city belonging to the autonomous region of Andalusia. One of the developers of the tangos musical style was flamenco singer Enrique Jiménez Fernández (1848–1906), known as Enrique el Mellizo.

The tangos performance style has a lively and markedly accented rhythm counted in four, where the first is the unaccented beat and the following three are accented. If we use the flamenco metronome, it sounds as follows:

Viewed through the flamenco family tree, tangos originated mainly from the Romani music branch (see diagram below). This accounts for the sharp, accented movements, the strident sound, and the performance's focus on rhythm rather than melodic quality. The song or dance usually begins with clapping in the above-mentioned rhythm and continues throughout the entire performance, accentuating moments of climax and relaxation.

Marina Heredia - a flamenco singer (photo by Maque Falgas) and flamenco dancers in the works of Argentine-born painter Fabian Perez.

The tangos music we are currently learning is "Tangos de la Penca", performed by the flamenco singer Marina Heredia. To better understand the dance's emotional background, so to speak, I asked Duende dance teacher Aija to help with a translation of the song's lyrics from Spanish.

Tangos de la Penca. Zambra.

Ay, puerto moruno de Tanger,
Puerto que te vi marchar
Y en un barquito de espuma
Ay, con la esmeralda del mar
Ay ......ay, ay, ay, ay....

Que ya no te veo más....

Ay, sa casao una gitana
Llevaba los pelillos sueltos
Ay, los gitanos llevaban
Pañuelos de seda al cuello
Y relucen las estrellas
Y arriba en el firmamento

Y anda y vete con la otra
Ay, que es más bonita que yo
Más bonita lo será
Ay, pero más graciosa no.

A mi me han dicho que vienes del moro
Del moro del moro tú vienes.

Ay, yo no quiero que me digas

Ay, yo no quiero que me digas
Que me quieres más que a nadie
Teniendo a tu mare viva

Que me quieres más que a nadie
Teniendo a tu mare viva

Ya viene el tren de las dos

Ya viene el tren de las dos
Ya vienen los toreros mare
Que ya llegó mi corazón.

Ya viene el tren de las dos
Que en el último vagón
Ya viene mi corazón.

A mi me han dicho que vienes del moro
Del moro del moro tú viene

The Ugly Romani Girl's Tangos. Zambra.

Ay, Moorish gates of Tangier,
Gates that saw you depart,
Boarding a boat of foam,
Ay, in the emerald sea
Ay... Ay... Ay...

I shall see you no more...