Page:The Modern Dances (1914) Walker.djvu/15

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

THE TANGO
11


The Tango, or One Step

Many incorrect words and phrases have come, by common usage, to be recognized as correct, just as slang words have been converted into good English by the same process.

This is true of the Tango. What has been taught and danced for the past two or three seasons, and is still being danced as the Tango, is, in reality, not the Tango, but has been classified by the best authorities as the One Step.

The real Tango is a South American folk dance. It is a slow, stately dance, done to four-four time—not ragtime. Its many figures are for the most part difficult, both of description and accomplishment, but it is nevertheless becoming exceedingly popular for ball-room dancing.

I therefore bow to common usage and teach the One Step as the Tango, because it is the dance which the majority of people recognize as the Tango.

The real Tango, as taught on page 59, is distinguished by the caption "Argentine Tango."

The First Four Figures

The first four figures of the Tango really are the Tango; that is, the Tango, as danced in the parlor and the ball-room. They consist of Four Steps Forward and Back, Circling, the