The Tango Legacy: Unique Visual and Auditory Elements that Make Tango Dance Appealing

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Labrador-Rodriguez, Sonia

Keywords

Tango, Dance, Audience, Audio Visual

Area of Concentration

Latin American Studies

Abstract

For this thesis, the problems addressed were what makes the tango dance appealing to watch, and ultimately, how does the audience attraction turn the dance into a performance. In order to gain an idea of what made the tango so alluring, there was a necessity to return to the roots of the dance to understand what generated the dance form and music genre in principle. Also included in the research was an exploration of performance studies to have a proper knowledge of the key factors in a performance, different type of dances, as well as audiences. Overall, four different tango settings were documented, a live theatrical performance, a milonga at a local dance club, a fictional work, and an informative piece, but only the last two were thoroughly analyzed. The first two settings were the foundation of typical scenarios. Also included was a questionnaire used to obtain information about the theatrical performance to understand the relationship between audience and the performers. I have found that there are three elements of tango that exist in each setting I documented, dance movements, music, and clothing, suggesting they are what attracts an audience. These elements provide an appealing visual and auditory atmosphere that draws in the audience, which can be necessary or unnecessary to create the performance.

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