The years from 1935 to 1952 were called the Golden Age of tango music and dance. The dance was originally started in Buenos Aires, Argentina based on ancient African dance, which was handed down through the years. The word tango comes from the Niger Congo languages.

It is thought that the word tango was first associated with dance in the 1890s. It started as just one of many dances, but as street barrel organs spread it to the slums, where many immigrants were living. Spreading to the streets and bars made the tango one of the most popular dances of that time. It was not limited in where it was performed as upper class soon picked it up and it was included in balls beginning in 1902.

Immigrants played the early tango music in Buenos Aires. At the beginning of the 20th century, tango was the favorite music of gangsters. In the brothels that the gangsters frequented it was especially popular. During this period in Buenos Aires, there were 100,000 more men than women.

Early tango also was known for expressing mens contempt for women. Sexual aggressiveness and machoism were another reason for the tango being regarded as a lower class dance. It was looked down upon for many years by societys upper crust.

First popular in Paris, soon to start showing up in London and other world capital, the craze hit New York at the end of 1913. The versions of tango music and dance that showed up in the U. S. were toned down somewhat with less body contact than that of the overseas version. Ballroom tango was much tamer than that of the European version.

Going from popular to not so popular as different dances took the limelight, the tango took a back seat for a while when the cinema became popular. In the 1980s, the opening of the Broadway musical Forever Tango brought the tango and tango music back to the popularity it had previously enjoyed.

Rudolph Valentino brought the tango to stardom in the U. S. when his sensual movements to the dance made it quite popular especially with the female audience. By the 1920s, the tango had climbed its way out of the lower class neighborhoods and was considered a more socially acceptable music and dance.

Carlos Gardel, a singer whose baritone voice is still revered in Buenos Aires, is credited with moving tango music and dance to more respected neighborhoods. Comparable to Elvis in Americas society, Gardes music is known as a tango that you do not dance to. Most people in Buenos Aires would take it as a personal affront if you dance to his music. Gardel was killed in a plane crash in 1937 and is still considered a national hero.

Tango music is generally played by six instruments. They include two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons. In earlier versions, included in the music were the flute, clarinet, and guitar. It can be music only or include a vocalist.

Tango is one form of music and dance that most of the younger generation has never heard of. Being that it was so popular in the earlier part of the 1900s many tango fans are not around any longer. As with every fad in music or anything else, they may hang around for a while and then the popularity recedes.

However, tango is one type that although it is not highly recognized in the U. S. still has serious fans in Buenos Aires. As compared earlier, a great tango singer was Carlos Gardel. The fans in Buenos Aires feel about him as people in the U. S. feel about Elvis Presley. Although both have passed on and both died at the height of their careers, they still live on in the hearts of their fans.