On the origin of Tango music, the dance itself, and even the name itself goes much controversy that continues today. The debate about the origin of the word "tango" took place in the nineteenth century, and only in 1926, there was one of the most likely origin of the word theory, put forward by Vincent Rossi in 1926. He suggested that the roots of the word to look for in an African dialect. His conclusions are similar to the truth because of Montevideo and Buenos Aires have been around for a long time conduit for traffickers. The assumption was confirmed by Rossi and Ricardo Molas, who spent etymological research, trying to prove the African roots of the word "tango". In African languages have words similar in sound to the word: Congolese "Lango" meant to dance, Nigerian "Shango" meant "god", the word 'mark' in Bantu-also means "dance". Molas argued that "tango" comes from the Congo, where the word that is similar in sound means "circle".
Rossi claimed that the dance itself was born of black slaves at parties, his contemporaries, speaking about this dance tells the story of tango as a dance that developed from African dance kandombe.
Over time, the meeting of black dance «Sociedades de negros» became known as the word "tango". In 1821, it was reported «Casa de Tango de Bayle» and although it was not like that then became widespread in the circles of immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century on the Rio de la Plata, but the tango started its life, having incorporated various features culture of people of African descent and indigenous inhabitants of those places.
The forerunners of the tango is considered Afro-Cuban Habanera, milonga and tango Andaluz. The first of these dances came about in the first quarter of the nineteenth century in Havana and was a mixture of African slave rhythms with Spanish melodies. By the mid-nineteenth century, the habanera spread to Spain, but already being a dance that danced in the salons of Paris.
Habanera became very popular and was competing with the fashion at the time waltz, polka and mazurka. Its always willingly used in folk theater productions as couplets. An example is the Habanera aria from the opera Carmen by Bizet.
The same is observed in the rhythm of the tango and milonga Andaluz, they are only slightly different tune. Andaluz appeared in the mid-nineteenth century, is close to flamenco and is enforced as the sound of the guitar. At first it was a solo female version, then a couple or a group, without any contact with the partner. In most cases, the Tango Andaluz was executed as couplets in popular theater productions.
Another ancestor of tango, milonga was also interesting as a song-and-dance form, it was slow and accompanied songs. Urban option milonga was much more lively and danced his lot quicker. In this dance noticeable features of the Argentine folklore.
The emergence of dance is similar to the modern one can observe from the time when musicians could already read and write notes. They began to exchange notes, record your own songs. The first recorded example of a tango tango Rosendo Mendisabalya-«El entrerriano». He worked as a music teacher, and in the evenings he played tango in taverns.
The dance is performed in a variety of places: in the open air, in a secluded place, which were closed from prying eyes.
Italian tango dancers are always accompanied by a barrel organ, which is the distributor of this tune. The famous score Mendisabalya enables us to understand the sound and rhythm of the old tango.