[1_Alexandra Tirintica] http://www.treasurecoasttango.com/id30.

html Styles of Argentine Tango

by Stephen Brown In Buenos Aires and other parts of Argentina, tango is danced in a spectrum of individualistic or personal styles, and many tango dancers who are Argentine do not accept a categorization of their own dancing by any broad stylistic name. They simply say they are dancing tango, their own style, or the style of their neighborhood or city. A few confuse the issue further by identifying their own style by a name that other dancers associate with a different style. Consequently, parsing the commonalities and differences that can be found across the continuum of individual styles to clearly describe the characteristics of various styles is challenging, potentially controversial, and possibly misleading. Nonetheless, if we regard style to mean an approach to dancing that creates incompatibilities with other approaches and has a sufficient number of adherents who stick firmly to the listed elements, I think it is possible to create rough definitions for a number of distinguishable styles of Argentine tango: salon, milonguero, club, orillero, canyengue, nuevo and fantasia. Salon-Style Tango Also known as "tango de salon," salon-style tango is typically danced with an upright body posture with the two dancers maintaining separate axes. The embrace can be close or open, but it is typically offset (with each dancer's center slightly to the right of their partner's center) and in a V (with the woman's left shoulder closer to the mans right shoulder than her right shoulder is to his left shoulder). When salon-style is danced in a close embrace, which is common in Buenos Aires, the couple typically loosens their embrace slightly to accomodate the turns and allow the woman to rotate more freely. When salon-style is danced in an open embrace, which is uncommon in Buenos Aires, the distance between the partners allows the woman to execute her turns more freely and pivot without requiring much independent movement between her hips and torso. If the woman rotates her hips through the turns independently of her upper torso, the embrace need not be loosened as much. Salon-style tango is typically danced to the most strongly accented beat of tango music played in 4x4 time, such as DiSarli. Those who dance salon-style tango to Juan D'Arienzo or Rodolfo Biagi typically ignore the strong "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that characterizes the music. Salon-style tango requires that dancers exercise respect for the line of dance. Ric-Tic-Tic Rhythm Ric-tic-tic is onomatopoeia for the staccato rhythms that are prominent in the music of Juan D'Arienzo, Rodolfo Biagi, and some other golden-era orchestras. With Biagi on the piano, D'Arienzo's orchestra debuted in the 1930s with the ric-tic-tic rhythm. Although some describe music with the ric-tic-tic rhythm as 2x4, the characteristic rhythm of this music is actually created through a variation in accented beats that yields an alternation of single-time and double-

time rhythms. For example, the music might be played one and two and, one and two and, one and two and, one and two and (where boldface represents the accented beats), and the dancers might respond slow, slow; quick, quick, slow; slow, slow; quick, quick, slow. One might express the chararacteristic stacatto rhythm of this music as one, two; ric, tic, tic; one, two; ric, tic, tic. Some tangos contain more complex rhythms and longer phrases of double-time staccato accents. Juan D'Arienzo's "El Flete" contains a rhythmic figure of one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and. For the dancer adhering strictly to the accents, that rhythmic figure becomes the demanding and rapid fire slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause. For a dancer taking the music at half speed, the rhythmic figure becomes the familiar slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause (where boldface represents the beats used for dancing). Milonguero-Style Tango Milonguero-style tango is typically danced with a slightly leaning posture that typically joins the torsos of the two dancers from the tummy through the solar plexus (in an embrace that Argentine's call apilado) to create a merged axis while allowing a little bit of distance between the couple's feet. The embrace is also typically closed with the womans right shoulder as close to her partner's left shoulder as her left shoulder is to his right, and the woman's left arm is often draped behind the man's neck. Some practitioners of this style suggest that each dancer lean against their partner. Others say that the lean is more of an illusion in which each partner maintains their own balance, but leans forward just enough to complete the embrace. The couple maintains a constant upper body contact and does not loosen their embrace to accommodate turns or ochos, which can limit the couple to walking steps and simple ochos until both partners develop the skills for the woman to execute her turns by stepping at an angle rather than pivoting. Milonguero-style dancers typically respond to the "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that is prominent in the music of Juan D'Arienzo and Rodolfo Biagi and also found in the playing of many other tango orchestras. The milonguero style allows for a more elastic approach to the rhythm when dancing to music that has a less insistent "ric-tic-tic" rhythm, such as that recorded by Di Sarli or Pugliese. The ocho cortado is one the characteristic figures of milonguero-style tango because it integrates the embrace with rhythmic sensibilities of the style. Milonguero-style tango can also be identified as apilado-, cafe-, and confiteria-style tango. One of the better-known dancers of the style, Tete, refers to his own style of tango as salon.

Club-Style Tango Club-style tango has the rhythmic sensibilities of milonguero-style tango, but it uses the posture, separate axes and embrace of close salon-style tango. Club-style tango is danced with an upright posture with the two dancers maintaining separate axes while embracing closely in an offset V.

The couple loosens their embrace slightly on their turns to allow the woman to rotate more freely and pivot without requiring much independent movement between her hips and torso. If the woman rotates her hips through the turns independently of her upper torso, the embrace need not be loosened as much. Club-style tango is typically danced to the "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that is prominent in the music of Juan D'Arienzo and Rodolfo Biagi and also is found in the playing of many other tango orchestras. Club-style tango uses the ocho cortado and other rhythmic figures that are found in milonguero-style tango. Possibly a rhythmic variation of the salon-style tango, some people regard club-style tango as a mish mash of the salon and milonguero styles rather than a separate style. Orillero-Style Tango Orillero-style tango is an older style of tango whose name suggests that it may have had its origins in the streets of poor outlying tenements in Buenos Aires. Later it came to refer to the man dancing around the edge of the woman. In either case, orillero-style tango was not considered acceptable in the refined salons of central Buenos Aires during the golden age of tango. To the extent that orillero-style tango is still danced it has become more like salon-style tango. It is danced with upright body posture with the dancers maintaining separate axes, and the embrace is typically offset in a V and can be either close or open. In the turns, the woman is allowed to move freely and pivot without requiring much independent movement between her hips and torso. When orillero-style tango is danced in a close embrace, the couple loosens the embrace slightly to accommodate the turns. If the woman rotates her hips through the turns independently of her upper torso, the embrace need not be loosened as much. Orillero-style tango differs from salon-style tango because it adds playful, space-consuming embellishments and figures that do not always respect the line of dance. Many of the playful elements are executed to the "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that characterizes the music of Juan D'Arienzo and Rodolfo Biagi. Canyengue Canyengue is a historical form of tango that was danced in the 1920s and early 30s that may or may not be accurately captured by its current practitioners. The embrace is close and in an offset V, the dancers typically have bent knees as they move, and the woman does not execute a cross. At the time canyengue was popular, dresses were long and tight. Consequently, the steps were short and frequently executed in the "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that is characteristic of the tango music played by the old guard which included Francisco Lomuto, Francisco Canaro (early in his career), Roberto Firpo, and Juan de Dios Filiberto. (The modern-era orchestra Los Tubatango plays in the same style.) Some dancers of canyengue use exaggerated body movements to accent their steps. Nuevo Tango Nuevo tango is largely a pedagogic approach to tango that emphasizes a structural analysis of the dance in which previously unexplored combinations of steps and new figures can be found. The style is danced in an open, loose or elastic embrace with a very upright posture, and great emphasis is placed on dancers maintaining their own axes. Although the advocates of tango

nuevo emphasize a new structural analysis over specific figures, some of its most identifiable figures are overturn ochos and change of directions in turns, which are most easily accomplished in a loose or elastic embrace. Fantasia (Show Tango) Fantasia is danced in tango stage shows. It originally drew from the idioms of the salon- and orillero-styles of tango but today also includes elements of nuevo-tango. Fantasia is danced in an open embrace with exaggerated movements and additional elements (often taken from ballet) that are not part of the social tango vocabulary. These balletic elements integrate well with salon-style tango because the way a couple relates to each other's space in salon-style tango is very balletic in nature, even though tango movement is more grounded like modern dance. Liquid Tango Liquid tango is an emerging approach to dancing Argentine tango that is danced with an embrace that shifts between close and open to allow the integration of various styles of tango, particularly the nuevo and club styles. It is probably premature to consider this a separate style of dancing because the approach is largely compatible with nuevo and doesn't have an identfiably separate group of adherents. Nuevo Milonguero Nuevo milonguero is a relatively new approach to Argentine tango that adds some nuevo movements such as change of direction in turns, cadenas, and volcadas to milonguero-style tango. It would probably be a stretch to regard nuevo milonguero a separate style of dancing because the approach is fully compatible with milonguero-style tango and doesn't have an identifiably separate group of adherents. Some Additional Comments about Style Which Style is Authentic? All of these styles have some degree of authenticity because they draw from the practices, idioms, and historical precedents of Argentine tango as it is and was danced in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and other cities in Argentina and Uruguay. Some styles are more popular in a particular city or in venues within a city, but popularity should not be confused with authenticity. Fantasia is authentic for stage dancing, but not for social dancing. Some of the confusion about authencity may be the result of different styles serving different social purposes during the golden age of tango. Salon-style tango was danced in very nice clubs, where one was expected to get dressed up and dance very slow. Milonguero-style tango was danced in less formal venues, where dancers got together for the purpose of meeting each other. Orillero was considered a lower class or street style of tango. In many cases, the same individual would dance somewhat different styles in different venues or to different music.

Which Styles Have an Open Embrace and Which Have a Close Embrace? All of the styles except fantasia can be danced in a close embrace. Although salon- and orillerostyle tango can be danced in a open embrace, they are more typically danced in a close embrace in Buenos Aires and other parts of Argentina. Milonguero- and club-style tango are only danced in a close embrace. The milonguero-style embrace is also typically closed with the woman's right shoulder as close to her partner's left shoulder as her left shoulder is to his right. The nuevo embrace is loose and elastic, but many of the movements that are emphasized in tango nuevo can be danced in either the apilado or the close offset V embraces. Embrace and Frame Some people distinguish between milonguero and other styles of tango by claiming that the frame in milonguero-style tango is in the woman, and in other styles the frame is created in the arms of the embrace. Whether the frame is inside the woman or in the arms of the embrace depends largely upon the closeness and softness of the embrace. A firm, distant embrace places the frame in the arms of the embrace. As the embrace becomes closer and softer, the frame is moved into the woman's body in all styles. Which Styles Are Improvisational and Which Are Choreographed? All of the styles are potentially improvisational including fantasia. Many instructors of salonstyle tango and fantasia emphasize memorized figures in their teaching. Performance tango is often choreographed. Which Styles Are Feeling and Which Are Analytical? Some people look upon improvisation in salon, orillero, fantasia, and nuveo tango as puzzle pieces that are assembled as you dance, and those who teach the structure of tango within these styles can emphasize the analytical nature of the dance. If these styles are held in the intellectual domain and not moved into the intuitive and emotional domains, they can remain a dry, analytical puzzle. Dancers and instructors of the milonguero-style tango often emphasize the intuitive and feeling aspects of the style, but it can be approached in an equally analytical manner to the other styles. Aren't Salon Tango and Fantasia Really the Same? Salon-style tango and fantasia are distinct styles, but fantasia is an extension of salon-style tango and relies heavily upon salon-style tango for its basic set of movements. Fantasia adds balletic elements and showy figures and embellishments that are inappropriate for social dancing. Many tango instructors confuse the two styles for their students by teaching an indistinguishable blend of social and stage figures and calling it salon tango. This hybrid style is characterized by an open embrace, large steps, dramatic pauses, conspicuous ornamentation, and sometimes a disregard for the line of dance. Although its characteristics make the hybrid style unsuitable for dancing in crowded milongas in Buenos Aires or elsewhere, it is danced socially by many thousands of dancers outside of Argentina and Uruguay.

How Are the Milonguero and Club Styles Related? As described above, the styles are very similar. Club-style tango was danced in some of the clubs de barrios during the 1950s, while milongueros were dancing somewhat different styles in central Buenos Aires. These facts suggest that milonguero- and club-style tango may have developed at about the same time. Edaurado Arquimbau, a leading dancer of club-style tango, claims that several of the better-known milonguero-style dancers took lessons in club-style tango from him during the 1950s. His claim has led some to raise the possibility that club-style tango may have played an important role in the development of milonguero-style tango. More likely both milonguero- and club-style tango took their rhythmic elements from the older orillero style tango.

[2_Alexandra Tirintica] http://www.totango.net/terms.html

Tango Terms and Etymology A language - and therefore it's terms - is a living, growing, evolving phenomenon. abrazo: embrace (as in dance hold). amague: from amagar. To make a threatening motions. An amague is used as an embellishment either led or done on one's own and may be used before taking a step. An example of an amague may be a beat (frappe) before taking a step. barrida: sweep. A sweeping motion. One partner's foot sweeps the other's foot. Also called llevada. barrio: a district, neighborhood. boleo: from bolear. To throw. A boleo may be executed either high or low. Keeping knees together, with one leg in back, swivel on the supporting leg. caminar: to walk. The walk is similar to a natural walking step but the ball of the foot touches before the heel. The body and leg must move as a unit so that the body is in balance. Walks should be practiced for balance and fluidity. corte: cut. In tango corte means cutting the music either by syncopating or holding several beats. cruzada: cross. A cruzada occurs anytime a foot is crossed in front or in back of the other. desplazamiento: displacement. Displacing the partner's foot or leg using one's leg or foot. dibujo: drawing, sketch. A dibujo is done by drawing circles or other small movements on the floor with one's toe. enganche: hooking, coupling. Occurs when partner wraps leg around the other's leg. enrosque: from enroscar. To coil, twist. While woman executes a molinete, man spins on one foot, hooking other foot behind the spinning foot. giro: turn. While woman does molinete, man turns on one foot placing the toe of the foot in front and executing a sharp turn. llevada: from llevar. To transport (see barrida).

media vuelta: half turn. Usually done when man's right foot and woman's left foot are free. Man steps forward with his right leading woman to take a back step with her left and then leads he to take two steps while turning a half turn. milonga: may refer to music or the dance which preceded the tango, written in 2/4 time; or may refer to the dance salon or event where people go to dance tango (see below). milongueros: refers to those frequenting the milongas and considered tango fanatics. molinete: fan. Molinetes are forward and back ochos (figure 8's) done in a circle. ocho: eight. Figure eights usually executed with feet together (ankles touching) instead of one foot extended. ocho atras: ochos backward pista: dance floor. salida: Exit, or start. It's interesting that the word for the basic step (a place to start) should be a way to get out of a figure as well. salida cruzada:the beginning of a pattern with a cross; i.e. side left crossing right foot behind left, or side right crossing left foot behind right. sandwichito: One partner's foot is sandwiched between the other partner's feet. sentada: a sitting action. sacada: see desplazamiento (don't you love glossaries that do that?). trabada: fastened. It is a lock step - the step that the woman takes when man steps outside with his right foot and then straight forward left, together right. At this point the woman crosses and this cross is referred to as trabada Milonga Milonga, according to Jose Gobelo (founder of Academia del lunfardo, considered to be an authority when it comes to Tango subjects), states that it is a word of the African Language "Quimbunda", plural of 'Mulonga'. Mulonga in that language means, "word"; Milonga means words, the words of the Payadores. In 1872 when Jose Hernandez published his most famous book "Martin Fierro" (describes in verse the life of a gaucho); the word Milonga had already acquired the meaning of gathering where one can dance. A decade later, 1883, Ventura Lynch wrote: "In the periphery of the city the Milonga is so generalized that is danced in all the gatherings, it can be heard played by guitars, accordions, comb and paper, or played by street musicians with flute, harp and violin". It is also danced in the low-class casinos around the markets of 11 de Septiembre and Constitucin, other dances and funerals".

Today, Milonga has several meanings: a music, a dance, the place or gathering where one dances and also the original meaning (many words, or long story), such as in "no me vengas ahora con esa milonga", (do not start now with all that jazz). Tango There is no agreement as to the etymology of this word. When it comes to the pre-history of tango everything is shrouded in a dense fog. The word tango appeared much earlier than the dance. It first appeared outside Argentina, in one of the Canary Islands (Isla de Hierro) and in other parts of America with the meaning of "gathering of blacks to dance to drum music; also the name the Africans gave the drum itself". The dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy of Letters, 1899 edition, defines Tango as "Fiesta and dance of Negroes or "gente del pueblo" (those that belong to lower socio-economical class) in America"; also a second meaning: "Music for that dance". Here one has to remember that to the Spanish world, America is the whole continent - not just the USA; in this case it refers to the Spanish part of America, excluding USA and Canada. Here the dictionary gives the doubtful etymology of Latin 'tangir' (to play instruments). Latin ergo tango = I play. It is only natural to try to find a Latin origin to the word, although this etymological line obviously is not related to the Argentinean meaning. The 1914 edition gives the etymology tangir or tangere "to play or to touch". Later editions removed that etymological reference. The music historian Carlos Vega explains that in Mexico, a dance called tango existed in the 18th century. This dance was done individually or apart, not as a couple. Archives of the Holy Inquisition in Mexico make reference to the "ancient tango" - a mexican song - in 1803. The Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy, edition 1925 defines Tango as before, but without the latin etymology and added: "Dance of high society imported from America at the beginning of this century". Once more Tango traveled all the way from "low-class" to "highclass." It includes two more meaning: "music for this dance" and also "Drum of Honduras". It is only in the 1984 edition that tango is defined as an Argentinean dance. *It seems that the African origin of the word Tango is accepted by they largest number of erudite investigators. Ricardo Rodriguez reviewed the languages spoken by the slaves brought to Argentina ... tribes from the Congo, the Gulf of Guinea and Southern Sudan. Tango means "closed space," "circle," "any private space to which one must ask permission to enter". The slave traders called Tango the places where black slaves where kept, in Africa as well as in America. The place where slaves where sold also received that name. We could discuss this in more detail but ... I am afraid to bore you with so much detail. In summary, the most probable origin of the word tango is: closed space where negroes gather to dance; later on the dance itself. Lunfardo

The same way as lawyers, doctors, physicists, chemists, etc. have their peculiar language and terminology, thieves needed a language that was cryptic, secretive enough to speak among themselves and at the same time was unintelligible for the police or the possible victim of their actions. A language to be used in prison that could not be understood by the guards. This originated terms and expressions that formed a new language, that of thieves and jail inmates. The secret tongue of "lunfardos", term used by thieves to refer to themselves. In this way watch became "bobo" (dumb-stupid) due to two characteristics, it is very easy to steal and it works all day long non-stop. Lunfardo is rich in Italian dialectal terms and also French words. The first manifestations of this language appeared in Buenos Aires around 1880 ( police and newspapers archives). This new terminology invaded the familiar language of the conventillos dwellers and very slowly the language of men (it was not used at home or by women), finally became something characteristic of being Porteo and Argentine. It was spread by theater in its "Sainetes", a peculiar genre that depicts life in conventillos; it was used by poets; but the greatest means of diffusion was not literature but its use in Tango Lyrics.

[3_ Alexandra Tirintica] http://www.cyber-tango.com/art/t_term1.html#long_def

Firulete The word derives from the castellano word FLORETA, which refers to some type of embroidery or arabesque, and also to some specific dance moves. In the general sense of the word, FIRULETE is an adornment, a decoration, an embellishment that a person wears or dons to look prettier, better, more handsome, marvelous, etc. In the dance of Tango, FIRULETES are the complicated steps that the dancers execute to demonstrate their skills. El Firulete is also the name of the Argentine Tango Newsletter published in Northern California. TangoMan cortes vs. firuletes [starting note: I found myself adding small comments between brackets all the time. To allow for an easier reading I've put those comments as footnotes. That's why those numbers are standing in the text.] In the tango-term discussion we have up to now touched upon two different aspects of the dance: 'firuletes' and 'cortes'. You could say that they are opposites.

If we see tango in principle as a way of moving, changing your weight from one foot to the other in a rhythmic way (caminar?), then 'firuletes' [1] are extra movements that do not interfere with this principle movement. They add something extra to the 'principle move'. 'Cortes' on the other hand are those elements where the movement is stopped for a moment. So a 'corte' takes something away from the 'principle move'.

First to the firuletes [2]. Caran and Steve explained already that 'lapiz' is a sort of firulete, where a leg is metaphorically seen as a pencil, drawing on the floor. This is the general meaning, and in this sense 'dibujo' and 'traze' [3] are a kind of 'lapiz'. But 'lapiz' has very often got a more delimited meaning, just as Steve explained the movement: as a men's circular leg-movement in giro [4]. If we discriminate between those two we can start to bring some structure in the ever longer list of Tango Terminology (see below). Another firulete is the patada: the kick, that became famous as a kick from the man between the legs of the woman while she is doing giro or ochos. In choreographies women are seen doing kicks between the legs of the men too (This sometimes happens in improvisation, but I have to say that I know only one woman who did it regularly).

__firulete__ / | \

lapiz (general meaning) patada other...[5] / dibujo | \ traze lapiz (delimited meaning)

I did not include boleo and gancho, as I'm not sure whether I would rate them as pure firuletes. They both can only be performed properly if the other partner 'goes with it'. In my view firuletes are something that one of the dancers can do without 'disturbing' the other. Maybe we should say that boleo and gancho are 'extreme' firuletes. Now to cortes. The word 'corte' comes from the verb 'cortar': to cut. It possibly refers to a cut in the principle movement [6]. It is one of the central pecularities of Argentine Tango: the constant movement can be broken, which makes it possible to make real 'dance phrases'. You could say that cortes are the punctuation of the dance. In one interpretation of the term 'salida' [7], you could say that after each 'corte' there follows a 'salida'. After the movement has stopped, you have to start again. A 'parada' as explained by Ernst is a corte [8]. Mordida (and reverse mordida) are elaborations of a parada. I would rate the 'resolution natural' also as a corte, although some might disagree. The 'resolution natural' is the '678' (for those who count). It is the ending of the eight count basic [9], leading to a stand-still. Another corte is the 'quebrada': a position where the woman stands on one foot, the other one hanging relaxed behind the standing foot, often seen with the woman hanging with all her weight against the man [11].

____________ corte ___________ / / \ \

parada resolution natural quebrada other...[10] | (reverse) mordida So far from me. The hardest part is still to come: the terms refering to various forms of the 'principle movement'. Don't forget the footnotes! bye

michael cysouw nijmegen, holland

Notes:

[1] 'embellishments' is probably the closest english word. [2] is 'adorno' just another word for the same, or does somebody feel a difference in connotation between the two? [3] explain that last one (traze) some more Caran, I've never heard it, and I'm not quite sure if I got you right. [4] Steve wrote the following: 'In the counter-clockwise molinete, the left-foot lapiz comes after the follower has completed a her back step. As she starts her side step, the leader sweeps his left foot away in front of her, then draws it in toward his right foot. As she completes her front step, he completes the his move, placing his left foot adjacent to her left foot.' Note that this last part is a 'parada' (see note [8]). [5] any special names for "taps on the floor" or for the "touching of a foot of the other" (informal those movements are called 'kisses' around here). [6] the same root is also found in 'cafe cortado'. Some people talk about a special kind of ocho as an 'ocho cortado'. Maybe some other time I will talk about that one. [7] see my mail from 28-05: "some more about salida", hopefully soon on Garrit's server (nice work Garrit!). [Thanks :-), G.] [8] Ernst described a parada as: 'the leader stops the follower with the inside edge of the leader's right foot touching the outside edge of the follower's left foot.' I don't think that it is important for the definition of a parada to name the feet or the side of the feet: all 8 possibilities are possible IMO. I would say that a parada is a 'corte with touching of feet'. [9] Note that Caran named the eight count basic a 'salida simple'. This shows again a further metaphorical step in the development of the meaning of 'salida' as described in my last mail. Here 'salida' doesn't refer anymore to the start of movement, but to the start of learning tango! the 'salida simple' is the first figure most people learn. [10] any special names for other cortes? For instance making a point, then starting again into another direction.

[11] The verb 'quebrar' means to break/to bend. Does this refer to the strained position of the woman's back, bended and on the edge of breaking? Maybe somebody has some better idea about the meaning of the word. Lapiz Here's what some or my teachers taught me. The circular sweeping action is usually called an enrosque (corkscrew). Lapiz means to tilt the foot almost vertically & scribe figures on the floor. It can be added to the end of the enrosque. Larry de Los Angeles

Parada, Mordida, Reverse Mordida, Sandwich Parada simply means stop, mordida (or sandwich) means that the foot of one partner is "trapped" between the two feet of the other partner. If the legs of this other partner are crossed, then it is a reverse mordida. Sometimes confusion takes place when people say that a parada is the same as a sandwich. In my view this is incorrect. The confusion might stem from the fact that often you go from a parada to a mordida, e.g. the leader stops the follower with the inside edge of the leader's right foot touching the outside edge of the follower's left foot. This is the parada. The leader continues by shifting his weight over his right foot and closing the left foot to the right foot with the follower's left foot trapped in between. This is the mordida (or sandwich). The name mordida comes from morder (to bite), it is a metaphorical picture similar to that of the sandwich. The leader might now consider to go to another parada by moving his right foot back. When the follower then steps with her right leg over the leader's left leg and pulls (in the next step) with her left foot the leader's left foot towards her right foot, she does a reverse mordida (try it out...). Ernst Buchberger

Parada, as somebody already guessed is stop. Mordida is byte. Sandwich is just that, sandwich. In Tango terms, the terms originated in a club located in a blue collar neighborhood of the province of Buenos Aires. At lunch time, some workers enjoyed a game of soccer (picado, from pick up game) while others practiced their Tango. One warm day of summer, a middle age man named Policarpo was dancing with one of the neighborhood girls while suddenly he stopped,

pulled a sandwich from his pocket, took a byte and continued dancing without missing a beat. Everybody stopped in their tracks and applauded. From that day on, all the other workers tried to imitate but never equated the singular talent of Policarpo who became known as the creator of the Parada, Mordida and Sandwich, elements which later made him a millonaire as every "maestro" developed their variations, paid him royalties and charged hefty dollars to foreign dancers. :-) TangoMan (original info by Jose Movelo)

Parada When doing a parada (stop) it is not the leader's foot touching the follower's that leads the parada. That is an optional element, that can only act to add one more cue to the more important leads. These are: pressure against the follower's back keeping him/her from continuing to move, pressure on his/her balance hand opposite to the push on hi/r back, downward pressure on both points.

This has to be timed just right (a little over hir reaction time to events, plus a fudge factor dependent on how familiar (or not) s/he is with paradas). But done properly, a good follower with no exposure to paradas will respond as the leader intends.

Larry de California Sur

Salida Salida does *not* mean the end. It means "exit", and it stems from the verb "salir" which translates as "to exit", "to go out". It strikes me as funny that what a (supposedly) native speaker of English terms an entrance move is actually called an exit move in Spanish. So much for the different conceptions in different languages. Ernst Buchberger

SALIDA (SHALL WE) The word originates with the way men invite women to dance. "Salimos a bailar?" for example uses a variacion of the verb SALIR and he is saying "shall we dance"? In Tango BAILEMOS the protagonist says at one point: "... el Tango ya termina, salgamos a bailar" Again, the meaningful translation is "the Tango is ending, let's go dance". When the fad of Tango dancing began to sweep the world, those who tried to learn "by the numbers" may have wanted a more scientific definition and portenios dancers faithful to their entrepreneurial spirits coined the term SALIDA to indicate a sequence of initial steps and from there on, each traveling "maestro" carried a suitcase full of steps with their own version of SALIDAS. Hopefully this will clarify the issue and bring a little sense to the wonderful of Tango terms. So, in Tango terms, SALIDA means the beginning of the dance and I would equate it with the expression "SHALL WE..?" How to start dancing is irrelevant since we have two feet and four cardinal points to begin moving. Some men prefer to step to the side while others will step back, but I have seen people start dancing by walking straight forward, etc. (I have been experimenting stepping to the right but I keep banging my elbow against the wall... :-) Many times the way one begins the dance is dictated by common sense, courtesy or the lack of it but there is no rule as to how to do that. Tangazos, TangoMan

Some more about the meaning of 'salida' As pointed out before, 'salida' comes from the verb 'salir', meaning 'to exit, to go out'. Ernst wondered about this: It strikes me as funny that what a (supposedly) native speaker of English terms an entrance move is actually called an exit move in Spanish. Alberto proposed that: The word originates with the way men invite women to dance. "Salimos a bailar?" for example uses a variacion of the verb SALIR and he is saying "shall we dance"?

[...] So, in Tango terms, SALIDA means the beginning of the dance and I would equate it with the expression "SHALL WE..?"

I don't agree with Alberto here. IMO the word 'Salida' came into tango through a completely normal metaphorical use of the word. Let's first look at the meaning of 'salir' some more. It is always very hard to describe the meaning of a word in abstract terms, but for this case I would like to define the basic idea of the verb 'salir' as "leaving the present location and start doing something". The meaning includes: - the transition from a state into an action - the state takes place 'here', the action 'there' - a connotation of 'pleasure' in some uses (e.g. salir a comer)

So 'salir a bailar' means simply 'to go out to dance':leave the house to go to a milonga (from sitting here go there to do something). This meaning then is metaphorically used for every dance: from standing still you start moving, you 'go out on the dance floor'. (In fact I find the word 'entrance' not the best translation, Ernst, because 'to enter' is an action resulting in a state: 'going in' results in 'being inside'. IMO words like 'beginning' or 'start' are much better.)

I do completely agree with the tango-meaning of 'salida' given by Alberto: SALIDA means the beginning of the dance

Note: in fact there is only *one* salida in each particular-3-minute-tango. Only the way you start moving at the beginning of the dance is a salida. But I think at the moment there is a new process ongoing where this meaning is again used metaphorically for something different. Instead of naming the start of a *dance* a salida, the start of a *figure* is more and more called a salida: every way to start moving anew after a 'resolucion natural' (another term for the list!).

Bye michael cysouw

New (names for) Styles of dance (Urquiza style, Almagro style, Naveira style) "New Styles of dance generate confrontations and polemics between milongueros" (Article from "Clarin" http://www.clarin.com.ar/diario/hoy/) For ten years, the proliferation of teachers and schools have been modifying the way to dance tango. Although the change is evident, it has heterogeneous forms. As a result of that, there is a new paradigm: today, anyone can dance.

The static postcard of the milongas today, with its colorful mixture of "hip youngsters" and "old time historical habitus" united in the "ritual" of the dance, is not more than that: a flat image that rarely reveals something more than a repertoire of archetypes. Behind that frozen scene, nevertheless, an unsuspected and burning world exists where the old can be new, the novelty can be obsolete, a simple thing can be difficult, and the excessive is insufficient. And in that, on the other hand, all these values are in permanent change.

Ten years ago, and in a symptomatic coincidence with the world-wide triumph of the musical review Tango Argentino, the social dance of tango began to rise from the ashes in which it had been almost buried for decades.

It is known that throughout these last ten years, the panorama was modified completely. Today, hundreds of instructors shape thousands of dancers who attend tens of milongas. In order to have an idea, it is enough to take a look at anyone of the specialized publications (Tangauta, B.A. Tango), or to consider that at a single school (Estrella-LaViruta) there is an enrollment of 600 students.

But beyond the numbers factor, the phenomenon of the contemporary milongas marks a historical change in another sense: a new change of direction in the continuous transformation of the styles of dance throughout the century.

What is being favored today on the dance floor? If it is what can be observed with more frequency, one would say that three tendencies are disputing for supremacy: the Urquiza style, the Almagro style and the Naveira style, as the fans know them, - implying a neighborhood, a club and a teacher.

They are not difficult to distinguish. Make yourself comfortable on a stool by the bar and you will see them move over the waxed surface: a couple that advances with long steps, touching the floor as if they are wearing gloves on their feet (Urquiza), is followed by other couple closely embraced and whose short steps adjust synchronously to the beat (Almagro), and behind, a third couple that unfolds all the imaginable variety of figures which the previous couples can do without (Naveira). Adding to that, there will be another couple schooled in the style of Antonio Todaro and belonging to an elite with technical formation, that alternates between the social dancing at the milongas and the professional stage performances.

The fans are simultaneously protagonists and judges of the prevailing tendencies. In some halls, one or another one dominates. But on several "pistas" the practitioners of different styles mix with each other, they watch each other out, they appraise each other, they admire themselves or they condemn the others. The commentaries can be listened to between the tables, but they can be tracked all the way down to the Internet (currently a Tangolist site burns with opinions like: " So and so's dancing, looks like a cowboy with hemorrhoids "). Miguel Angel Zotto and Milena Plebs led the first changes at the beginning of the 90's. When they reconstructed in their spectacle Tango x 2 elements of style of the popular dance, they revealed to inadvertent eyes of the public, the wealth of the world of the milonga. Then, the halls, and the classes of Antonio Todaro, bricklayer and milonguero, with whom Zotto and Plebs had made their meticulous work of stylistic archaeology, began to fill with new customers.

A little later, Susana Miller began her classes at the traditional Club Almagro. Miller (of academic extraction) associated with Cacho Dante (a veteran aficionado) begun from her classes the propagation of which usually is known as the Almagro style - very similar to the typical style of the downtown night clubs of the 40's. Its less demanding requirements gave access even to those who were less fitted naturally, technically or sensitively. And it quickly put on the dance floor an enormous amount of new fans, generating a true leveling off of the dance.

Right now, the influence that registers greater growth is, perhaps, the one of dancer and teacher Gustavo Naveira. The faithful followers of his method of combination of steps and figures

consider it "the acme of creative improvisation ". The detractors, who detest the way in which the Naveira dancers move around the floor looking for space for their movements, define them as "the patrol cars of the dance floor."

Naveira himself affirms: "a single person cannot be determining in the evolution of the dance. That's been happening from the beginning of the tango, and without stop, always because of a conjunction of factors. Now, what is arising is a system of improvisation of an even greater variety of combinations. And these changes are also transferred to the marking techniques to lead the woman".

However, for disc jockey Horacio Godoy the future is in Villa Urquiza. Teachers Vilma Heredia and Gabriel Angi also agree that many young people are focusing their attention to the floor of the old Sunderland Club of Villa Urquiza, where they still can watch the habitus of half century ago. "Urquiza is what it's coming," prophesies Godoy. "There is a group of kids that realized that the maximum wealth is there. I am not talking about figures, it's about the musicality and the quality of the movement. It's about a wealth of knowledge so subtle and complex that for the ordinary eye is imperceptible. "

The trends, in any case, hardly draw up general lines: common characteristics, airs of familiarity. As it has always happened with tango, there are so many ways to dance as there are dancers (it is what highly distinguishes it from almost all other forms of popular social dance). And in the same way, there will be so many opinions on the question as the number of people on the dance floor.

By Irene Amuchastegui and Laura Falcoff Clarin Newspaper Sunday, August 8, 1999