Tango Origins

• 1857 – First “Tango” music published in Argentina
• 1890s – Tango on stage in Buenos Aires

Classic Tango Era

• 1912-1913 – Tango mania takes Paris, infects Europe and New York, is accepted in Argentina
• 1910s Half the early phonograph recordings are Tango music
• 1917 Carlos Gardel records “Mi Noche Triste,” the first sung tango
• 1926 Rudolph Valentino dances Tango in “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”
• 1935 Bandleader Juan D’Arienzo’s rhythmic style makes the tango dancing more popular
• 1930s-50s Golden Age of Tango in Argentina
• 1950s Astor Piazzolla creates Tango Nuevo music with jazz and classical music elements
• 1955-1983 Military rule in Argentina leads to repression of Tango

Tango Renaissance

• 1983 Show “Tango Argentino” opens in Paris and launches global Tango Renaissance
• 1985 “Tango Argentino” opens on Broadway and cast members teach at Dancesport
• 1994 Luis Bravo’s “Forever Tango” plays 92 weeks in San Francisco
• 1990s Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas create a way to teach popularly called Tango Nuevo
• 1992 “Scent of a Woman” New York’s Paul Pellicoro choreographs and trains Al Pacino
• 1997 Luis Bravo’s “Forever Tango” opens, becomes longest-running Broadway Tango show
• 1997 Sally Potter’s “The Tango Lesson” movie makes Pablo Veron a bigger star
• 1999 The Parisian/Argentine band Gotan Project originates the ElectroTango sound
• 2002 Robert Duvall’s “Assassination Tango” movie
• 2002 Fernandéz Fierro creates a tango orchestra of young people with anarchic energy
• 2009 About 200 tango festivals worldwide
• 2009 “Dancing with the Stars” adds Argentine Tango
• 2009 United Nations (UNESCO) declares Tango part of world’s “intangible cultural heritage”