By Ricardo De Peńa, Waipio.
After independence in Argentina, 1816, it was the rise of the Compadres (the Godfathers,) in La Orilla, (The Edge) who really promoted the Milonga. Even though the changing Milonga ebbed and flowed over a large territory of at least one thousand miles in diameter around them because of the Guachos. These Compadres were local men of some means, sometimes shady dealings, smugglers, slightly better off than the Compadritos who tried to emulate them. And they owned most of the brothels in the Orilla. The Compadritos were street men, petty criminals and small time pimps. But here was the real basics of Argentine Tango.
This was still mainly a local Indian dance colored by European preferences.We know the Milonga had existed among the Indians in South America for at least 500 years. And it was even danced by the very low class newcomers in the same way for a few centuries after their arrival in the 1500s. Greek style Milonga (men in a line dance with interlocked arms) became sporadic, The Guachos increased in their importance. But the real partner creation of the new dance came in the middle of the 1800s with the arrival of thousands of Europeans and the introduction of the Bandoneon.
The "Orilla" developed rapidly. The young Indian and Mestizo girls that were “enticed” usually started for the middle class men as “Virgins.” From there a very few would move into a higher class and even find a Godfather who married or not had the money to keep her as a mistress. Many would drop into being lower class prostitutes with even lower class Compadritos. But the new partner Milonga continue to evolve and with it the introduction of the obscenity of sex in the lyrics. This was most often in Milonga but also in the crossbreeding of all the newcomers music and dance too.
After independence in Argentina, 1816, it was the rise of the Compadres (the Godfathers,) in La Orilla, (The Edge) who really promoted the Milonga. Even though the changing Milonga ebbed and flowed over a large territory of at least one thousand miles in diameter around them because of the Guachos. These Compadres were local men of some means, sometimes shady dealings, smugglers, slightly better off than the Compadritos who tried to emulate them. And they owned most of the brothels in the Orilla. The Compadritos were street men, petty criminals and small time pimps. But here was the real basics of Argentine Tango.
"Tango is about feeling and sensitivity, otherwise you are just
doing gymnastics. You can do all the steps but it has
to have the feeling and sensitivity of Tango."
This was still mainly a local Indian dance colored by European preferences.We know the Milonga had existed among the Indians in South America for at least 500 years. And it was even danced by the very low class newcomers in the same way for a few centuries after their arrival in the 1500s. Greek style Milonga (men in a line dance with interlocked arms) became sporadic, The Guachos increased in their importance. But the real partner creation of the new dance came in the middle of the 1800s with the arrival of thousands of Europeans and the introduction of the Bandoneon.
"El Dia Que Me Quieras" por Carlos Gardel
The "Orilla" developed rapidly. The young Indian and Mestizo girls that were “enticed” usually started for the middle class men as “Virgins.” From there a very few would move into a higher class and even find a Godfather who married or not had the money to keep her as a mistress. Many would drop into being lower class prostitutes with even lower class Compadritos. But the new partner Milonga continue to evolve and with it the introduction of the obscenity of sex in the lyrics. This was most often in Milonga but also in the crossbreeding of all the newcomers music and dance too.
"The important thing is to know why we want to dance. We dance
a solitude that we have inside us and cannot occupy with
anything, This gap, that emptiness to which we put
movement, is the TANGO." ~ Carlos Gavito
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