Bournemouth & Poole Argentine Tango Society (BPATS)

Tango is more than an erect position and the precision of intertwining of legs.
It speaks of poetry, love, music and dance. It's a way of life, for the Milongueros,
its more than a passion, its an obsession. Lets begin your journey.

Tango is the history of the immigrants who populates the city of Buenos Aires (BA) and Montevideo in the
beginning of the 20th Century

Between 1865 and 1914 the population of BA swell from 150,000 to 1.5 million. The immigrants came
from Europe, mostly from Italy and settled in the slums, tenements and red light districts.

This later gave rise to a unique musical fusion, the Black African population gave Tango the vibrant rhythm
and the close proximity of the bodies in the dance, the Jewish settlers added the violin, German immigrants
brought the Bandoneon (the unmistaken sound of tango) the Italians provided the haunting melody of Sicily,
the Spanish added a heady mix of mournful and joyful intensity of Andalusia Tango.

Tango is more than complex acrobats, seemless coupling of the dancers,Speedy inter mingling
of the legs. Basically ,Tango is a lifestyle, a different way to see the world

The people who really lived and dance tango have little in common with those people we have been
portrayed in movies and shows. First and foremost, If you truly love tango, you dance it for yourself and
for your partner, and not for others.

Its a private and intimate conversation that you have with a friend, acquaintance, complete stranger,
lover, wife, husband. It's a unique form of conversation because it is non verbal.

When you enter a tango dance hall (milonga), you are actually entering a time zone and a parallel
world in which the music you hear from the loudspeakers is usually from old and scratchy records
from the 1930s and forties. People dance slowly and carefully, like their life depended on the
concentration and intensity with which they move every muscle and yet everyone is totally relaxed.
Movements are very easy, many have their eyes closed, and dance close in a space that is sacred
.. reserved only for dancers.

The rule of the dance is complex and takes years to master but there are a number of other rules that
apply to the dance halls or milongas, for example, a man never walks up to a woman and ask her to
dance. There are more subtle ways to do this.