Ways to explore
Charts and maps
Tango’s history drawn: its music, its dancers, its city and its words. Every picture opens on a real example, every line with its source.
This week’s essay
MusicSingers on the moveEvery singer’s orchestras, year by year, and who shared them
Music
21
The sound mapHow do the orchestras sound side by side?Every recording by energy and voice
Tango, vals and milonga by yearHow much vals and milonga was recorded?What was recorded each year, and what gets danced
Sung and instrumental by yearWhen did tango get sung?When the singer took over, year by year
How long a recording ranDid recordings get longer?The middle length of each year’s recordings
Tempo of the centuryDid tango speed up?How fast each orchestra played, year by year
Orchestra periodsWhich years of each orchestra dancers choose, on one axis
When each orchestra recordedWhen was each orchestra recording?Every year in the studio, orchestra by orchestra
The most danced orchestrasWhich orchestras get danced?Who the filmed dances are danced to
The family tree of orchestrasWho came through whose orchestra?Every leader, era by era, and who came through them- Singers on the moveWho moved between orchestras?Every singer’s orchestras, year by year, and who shared them
Composers the orchestras favouredWhose songs did each orchestra favour?Whose music each orchestra recorded most, period by period
The record shelfWho pressed tango, and when?Every label on one time axis, and the sessions you can play
Who played with whomTroilo's circle in 1944
The family treeWhose line does a style come from?De Caro's line: Troilo, then Piazzolla
One song, every versionHow does one song change from take to take?Recuerdo, two versions side by side
At a glanceWhat did one orchestra record, and what is danced?D'Arienzo's records and dances, year by year
The version menuWhich orchestras recorded the songs people film
Shared repertoireWhich orchestras recorded the same songs
When the voice comes inThe singer's entrance in measured recordings
From estribillo to cantorHow much of each recording is sung
The keys of tangoThe measured keys of the recordings
Dance
7
The generations albumWho taught the dancers of today?From El Cachafaz to today’s maestros
Six degrees of tangoHow far apart are two people?Antonio Todaro to Mariano Otero
The Mundial and the festival boomWhen did the festival boom happen?Where the couples came from, and the festivals, year by year
Partners over timeWho danced with whom, and when?Mariano Otero’s partners, each danced year
How long partnerships lastHow long do couples last?Couples still filmed together, year after year
What dancers dance toWhich orchestras do dancers choose?Each couple’s orchestras, and who chooses alike
Danced togetherRecordings filmed in the same Performance
History
8
Buenos Aires as it wasWhat did Buenos Aires look like then?The city plan of 1909 over today’s streets
Tango’s world, thenWhere had tango reached by then?The world map of 1935, city by city
Buenos Aires in the lyricsWhich places do the songs name?Every place the songs name, and where it’s danced tonight
Lunfardo under the censorsWhat did the censors change?The tangos rewritten for the radio, 1943–49, to hear both ways
Women in tango’s first centuryWhich women do the sources name?The women who sang, led, wrote and danced it, as the sources name them, each to hear, with what we can’t tell yet.
On this dayWhat happened on this day?Who was born, died or recorded on this day
Every recording, one squareThe dated recordings we hold, and the filmed Dances matched to each
The century and the worldRecordings made each year, filmed Dances to them, and cited events beside them
