Tango

At the milonga

what

A milonga is a place or an evening where people dance tango. In the piece it is Sunday in Plaza Dorrego, and people dance in the street.

where

San Telmo, the old quarter south of the centre of Buenos Aires; UNESCO names the traditional dance halls of Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

who

A man looks at a woman across the room and nods: the cabeceo. She accepts with her eyes. Then they dance very close, in silence.

why

The barrio is a word of pride in Buenos Aires, and the milonga is where the barrio dances.

• The invitation to dance is the cabeceo, a nod across the room, which the woman accepts with her eyes.
• Tango is practised in the traditional dance halls of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and has spread around the world.

En la plaza Dorrego, en San Telmo, hay una milonga.

In Plaza Dorrego, in San Telmo, there is a milonga.

Un hombre mira a una mujer y mueve la cabeza.

A man looks at a woman and nods his head.

Ella acepta con los ojos.

She accepts with her eyes.

Bailan muy cerca, en silencio.

They dance very close, in silence.

Where it comes from

Tango was born in the poor neighbourhoods of the port more than a hundred years ago, as the music of immigrants: Italians, Spaniards, Africans. By 1914 about half the people of Buenos Aires had been born abroad. UNESCO's listing says the same of both cities: the urban lower classes of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, European immigrants, descendants of African slaves and the criollos of the region, merged their customs into one identity, in music, dance and poetry.

The instrument is the bandoneón, a square accordion from Germany that gives tango its sad, breathing sound. The most famous singer is Carlos Gardel, who died in 1935 and, Argentines say, sings better every day. In 2009 UNESCO inscribed tango for Argentina and Uruguay together.

• Tango was born in the poor neighbourhoods of the port more than a hundred years ago, as the music of Italian, Spanish and African immigrants.
• Tango was developed by the urban lower classes of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, mixing European immigrants, descendants of African slaves and the criollos; it embraces music, dance and poetry.
• The bandoneón is a square accordion from Germany.
• Carlos Gardel is the most famous tango singer; he died in 1935.
• UNESCO inscribed tango on the Representative List in 2009 for Argentina and Uruguay.

El tango nace en los barrios pobres del puerto, hace más de cien años.

Tango was born in the poor neighbourhoods of the port, more than a hundred years ago.

Es música de inmigrantes: italianos, españoles, africanos.

It is the music of immigrants: Italians, Spaniards, Africans.

El instrumento del tango es el bandoneón.

The instrument of tango is the bandoneón.

Hoy el tango es Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

Today tango is a World Heritage tradition.

The lyrics and lunfardo

Lunfardo, the slang of the Buenos Aires tenements, would have died with them if tango had not turned it into literature. The lyricists of the twenties and thirties wrote songs of love, betrayal and nostalgia in it, and the grandchildren of the people who invented the words still sing them. The first sung tango, "Mi noche triste" of 1917, opens with a lunfardo line: "Percanta que me amuraste", woman, you left me.

In the forties a radio commission banned lunfardo in songs, and singers had to say muchacha instead of mina. The ban made the words more popular.

• Tango turned lunfardo into literature; the lyricists of the 1920s and 30s wrote songs of love, betrayal and nostalgia in it.
• "Mi noche triste" (1917), by Pascual Contursi, is the first sung tango.
• In the 1940s a radio commission banned lunfardo in songs, and singers had to replace mina with muchacha and laburo with trabajo.

El lunfardo habría muerto con los conventillos si el tango no lo hubiera convertido en literatura.

Lunfardo would have died with the tenements if tango had not turned it into literature.

Un verso de "Mi noche triste", de 1917, el primer tango cantado: "Percanta que me amuraste / en lo mejor de mi vida".

A line from "Mi noche triste", of 1917, the first sung tango: "Woman, you left me / in the best part of my life".