First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor Francis; an informa company.
#1471940 in eBooks 2007-07-13 2007-07-13File Name: B01N2RZ0GB
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. This must have taken a great amount of researchBy JaytheGeekA rare history of the beginnings of tango. This must have taken a great amount of research. as much of this material is not available in other books about tango. This book covers the period from the obscure beginnings of tango. up until the Golden Age. and the spread of tango from Buenos Aires to the rest of the world. Needless to say. this is not about todays American tango. or International tango or Finnish tango. or even the Argentine tango of today. All these other forms of tango grew out of Argentine tango (the only form of tango at that time). and all the forms have evolved independently into quite different dances since those beginnings a century ago. This book is not about any of these modern forms of the tango; it is very accurate and comprehensive about the beginnings of tango. before all the other tangos branched off. Baim includes excellent historical information about Lunfardo. the conflicts between the creoles and immigrants. tango bar culture where only the men danced (with each other). and other cultural influences of the times. This book is a must read for serious tango aficionados.11 of 20 people found the following review helpful. Nice try. but uninformedBy Lux et VeritasBaim is to be commended for writing a book on a topic that is woefully ignored by English-language publishers. (The only allegedly non-fiction works on Tango published in English in recent memory are the academically dishonest "Tango: The Art History of Love" by Thompson. and the self-congratulatory "Kiss and Tango" by Palmer.)Unfortunately. Baim seems to be confused as to the differences among Argentine Tango. which this book purports to be about. and the two forms of ballroom tango. International Standard Tango and American Smooth Tango. It appears that. while she is aware that there is a tango thats done in ballrooms. she isnt at all clear that (a) they arent the same dance and/or (b) that the figures arent interchangeable in some way.In fact. the book is heavily padded with a lengthy appendix on ballroom tango figures. cribbed without comment from an almost-century-old book. The material is completely obsolete as a description of modern ballroom tango. and was never an accurate description of Argentine tango figures.
