Full Description
In the earliest years of the 20th century, North American ballroom dancers favored the waltz or the polka. But then a new dance, the tango, broke onto the scene when Vernon and Irene Castle performed it in a Broadway musical. Rudolph Valentino, Arthur Murray, and Xavier Cugat popularized it in the 1920s and 1930s, and thousands of people crowded onto dance floors around the country to hear the music and dance the tango.
This work chronicles the history of the tango in the United States, from its antecedents in Argentina, Paris and London to the present day. It covers the dancers, musicians, and composers, and the tango's influence on American music.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Antecedents of the Tango in the United States
2. Some Historic Facts
3. Argentineans in New York
4. New York Tango Venues
5. The Pros and Cons
6. The Rise of the Castles
7. James Reese Europe: The Key to Change
8. The Tango's Influence on Other Popular Music
9. Music with the Scent of Tango
10. Tango Valentino
11. The Orquesta Tipica Select
12. Juan Carlos Cobi.n: Pianist and Don Juan
13. The Arthur Murray Studios
14. Canaro Already Had His Orchestra
15. Xavier Cugat, Tango, Rumba and Chihuahuas
16. Carlos Gardel Enters the Arena
17. More Argentineans in New York
18. The Return of Juan Carlos Cobian
19. World War II and Later....
20. The Big Surprises
21. Piazzolla: A Bandoneon Against the World
22. The Compact Disk Revolution
23. The American Musician and the Tango
24. Final Considerations
Bibliography
Index
