Not many dances are as popular household names, nor as culturally significant, as the tango. The Tangoโs classic two-person style, with all its intimacy and sensuality, is as synonymous with romance as flowers and chocolates.
This has been the heart of the Tango since its birth in the 1880s. With its origins shared between African, Cuban-Spanish and Argentinian influences, the dance can only be described as the perfect blend of all these cultures.
The dance is known for being, as mentioned, pretty sensual and almost raunchy. As a matter of fact, it was prohibited in places like France in 1913. Tango dance instructors were banned from the city altogether.
Times were incredibly conservative, and such a dance was considered pretty indecent at a time when women were still wearing corsets and ankle-length dresses.
Not really a coincidence, as the dance developed within bars and brothels in the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Tango pretty much has โhaving a good timeโ in its cultural veins. Despite the backlash and controversy it was met with, the dance lived on.
In the bars, the dance halls and even the streets, people still dance the Tango. Like these two.
It takes two to Tango, they say. So theyโve got everything they need. The extra dozens of spectators are just a bonus. This isnโt just a performance for the sake of it, though. Yes, there is a little bit of a significant occasion going on here.
Iโll give you a hint : Itโs the song.
La Cumparsita, recognizable instantly from the notes if the name escapes you, is the Tango tune of all Tango tunes. Itโs been used in countless film scenes and competitions. Even if you donโt know its Spanish name, youโll at least immediately clock it as โThe Tango songโ.
This street performance in 2015 takes place just about 100 years after the song was composed by Gerardo Matos Rodriguez. Man and woman, crowd and street roughly a century later still dance to the song.
Mora Godoy and Marcos Ayala have a pretty sizable crowd around them here. Theyโre wearing their dancing outfits, and they know what theyโre doing.
When La Cumparsita plays, Seรฑor Marcos and Seรฑorita Mora have each otherโs hands held. They know the dance by heart, and they perform the Tangoโs iconic footwork with the precision of a cat walking a tight rope.
Not a single misstep or cue missed. Moraโs legs glide in and out of Marcosโ stance, and she follows her Seรฑorโs lead with the grace of a butterfly. When he lifts her, she glides off. When he reaches out, she spins. Moraโs timing and elegance elevates the performance to stellar levels.
Every step seems perfectly timed to the song. Their spectacular routine does justice to very note of La Cumparsita.
The song reaches its faster section, and Seรฑor and Seรฑorita step things up and give it some high-speed footwork too, before closing things up. Muy Bien!
Absolutely flawless performance from Marcos and Mora, and Iโm sure the first Tango dancers would have loved it. This performance isnโt just a performance. Itโs a story. The story of bold, often lower-class people who werenโt afraid of cultural norms of their time.
A dance that expressed romance and intimacy like no other of its time, and continues to do so 100 years later. Itโs a dance and a story that you need to watch for yourself. Watch Marco and Mora Tango in the full clip below!
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