How Did A Dance For Whores Become Posh?

I wonder though, what about the workers? (Sorry just a bit of 1970s humour) We get all sorts of people in Salsa and the older crowd that we have for tempo dancing comes mainly from the working classes, but in tango it is almost all professionals, doctors, scientists, and university professors.

Tango is a dance for whores and Dockers not ballerinas and scientists, it is a folk dance, a means of socializing, and let us not forget, in the early part of the last century, it was the only way men could get close enough to a woman to touch (unless they paid of course).

via tangogales.wordpress.com

An interesting analysis of the UK tango scene, and how far its participants are from Tango's roots…

Comments

[Julian]

Tango is for whores, rock and roll for devil worshipers, garage music is for drug addicts; and all will go to hell!

A quaint view but in fact there does not seem to be any evidence to back up the above statements that have been made in history in an attempt to repress the music of the young before it inevitably is accepted as mainstream.

Used as an excuse to touch women?

But now danced by scientists?

I have a paper on this topic somewhere I will look for it.

[tangobob]

Julien You should read the whole article. I have nothing but praise for the professionals who now seem to run the tango scene in the UK. My issue is about the way we are making it more and more complex, and the working classes are ignoring it in their droves. I accept critisism gladly but would much prefer constructive critisism and ideas as to how we get the workers from in fron of their TVs.

[Elbnymphe]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Tango leave the working classes behind as soon as it "lept across the Pond"? When it arrived in France in the 1910s-20s (sorry, if I am not 100% historically accurate) it all seems to have been a rather grand affair.

I suspect it has a lot to do with language. Many native speakers say that Tango lyrics are integral to the music. Now, the majority of people in London or Berlin or Tokyo probably don't speak Spanish. This alone gives Tango something of an elitist touch which it may not have possessed from the outset.