Globally recognized as one of the most distinctive musical and dance styles, tango is a highly relevant cultural product in countries such as Argentina and Uruguay. In them it was born as a characteristic musical expression of an increasingly growing urban world, from the beginning of the 20th century where national identity was confused with the mix of immigrant identities that arrived in the region. Today tango is the ambassador in the world of the River Plate culture .
The origin of a style of music that does not go out of style
Although there are no specific and clear data on the origin and birth of tango, to know it more closely we must locate ourselves in the Río de la Plata region, between Argentina and Uruguay in the first years and decades of the 20th century. There, elements that came from both European melodies brought by immigrants and elements of daily life in the cities that were beginning to grow were combined.
Tango was born as the expression of a mainly masculine world, where men tell and relate their pain, suffering, the women they love, the city, the neighborhood, the national identity and love for everything that has to do with the urban lifestyle. It does not represent the most powerful classes, it was even despised for a long time by them as being representative of popular sentiment. Today it is associated with high age groups although young people may also like it.
Why is it an indispensable cultural product?
There is no doubt that tango as music and as a form of dance is a central element of the River Plate culture. This is so despite the fact that today in the aforementioned countries other styles that are not even original to the region but are the result of globalized tastes and trends are more popular among young people.
Tango faithfully and clearly represents the feeling and thinking of those who populated our cities when they were not yet huge cities but still had a long way to go. Tango in its lyrics represents a large part of the Argentinean Buenos Aires and Uruguayan identity with whose elements it continues to be built to this day, for example the presence of cafes and bars, wine, love and suffering, the port, popular music, etc.
