Radio
 The
first radio station that was born in Argentina was called “Argentine Radio
Society” and was created by Enrique Susini. The show was called “Parsifal”
and was transmitted from the Coliseo Theatre. From the 20s and 30s on, other
radio stations were born: Nacional, La voz del aire, America, Cine Paris, Mayo,
La porteña, Callao, Rivadavia and many others. Radio creation collaborated with
tango success, since many singers became popular after being hired for a radio
station. Almost every great musician, such as
Carlos Gardel, Rosita Quiroga, Osvaldo Fresedo, Juan Maglio, Roberto
Firpo and Domingo Santa Cruz, worked in a radio station at some point of their
careers. In time, radio stations importance grew, the same as their audiences.
They broadcasted Carlos Gardel’s concerts from Paris or New York. As a proof
of how important radio stations were, we can remember the interviews made to important tango personalities at the
radio show “Tango, autores e intérpretes” (“Tango, authors and
singers”) that were compiled in the 1936 book “La historia del tango”
(“The history of tango”).
Tango and
its dance
 Tango is not just for listening, but for dancing too.
We can affirm that the first tango dancers were Daniel Molina, Catalina Barsolo,
Rufino Olguín, José Sandoval, Francisco Díaz and Feliciano Orsine. On one
occasion, these persons were arrested by the police for dancing forbidden music
in the streets. But as tango continued popularising, there were more and more
dancers. Many actors would perform on stage as tango dancers, such as Elías
Alippi did in 1903, at the Ana Podestá theatre. Other famous dancers were Pablo
Lento, el Pardo Santillán, Juan Carlos Herrera and el Tano Ponce. But,
undoubtedly, the best tango dancer ever was José Ovidio Bianquet, best known as
“El Cachafaz” (1885-1942). He
also had international prestige, because he even performed in New York and
Paris. Another great dancer was Casimiro Ain, “el Vasco”. He made many tours
around the United States, Europe, Brazil and Egypt. Nowadays, tango is still
danced. Some of its present dancers are: Liliana Torres Calivar, Miguel Ángel
Zotto, Vilma Martínez, Osvaldo Corradini and Luciano Boccucci.
Tango in the big screen
 Argentine film industry was born around 1890, when
tango was in its greatest expansion. Most of the films were about tango. The
first one was “Tango argentino” (“Argentine tango”), which was filmed on
1897 and was even exhibited in Europe because of the great success it had in
Argentina. The next tango film was
produced in 1915 and was called “Nobleza gaucha” (“Gaucha nobleness”).
It was about couples that danced milongas and tangos in Armenonville. The first
Argentine spoken film was “Tango”, produced in 1933. Some of the stars that
participated in it were Tita Merello, “El Cachafaz”, Mercedes Simone and
Libertad Lamarque. The music of the film was provided by the orchestras of
Maffia, Fresedo, Ponzio-Bazán, Donato and D’Arienzo. Some time later,
biographic films about tango stars began to be filmed, such as “Mi noche
triste” (“My sad night”) about Pascual Contursi, in 1952. Homero Manzi was the writer behind many successful films of
the time: “Su mejor alumno” (“His best student”), “La Guerra Gaucha”
(“The Gaucha War”) and “Pobre mi madre querida” (“My poor beloved
mother”), among others. Carlos Gardel also participated in many films in the
United States, such as “Melodía de arrabal” (“Arrabal melody”), “El
tango en Broadway” (“Tango in Broadway”) and “Luces de Buenos Aires”
(“Lights of Buenos Aires”).
Female tango voices
 Tango is not just for men: many women entered into the
singers world first, and the poets world later. At the beginning, women didn’t
use their real name, bur nicknames. When the 20th century began, many
women began to be known as composers. Some of them were Julieta Duparc, Juana
Giroud Faleni and María Torres Caamaño. Up to that moment, bandoneon, the soul
of tango, was played only by men. Until Paquita Bernardo showed with her ability
with the instrument, that women could be very good at it, too. Two revolutionary
female personalities in tango were Rosita Quiroga and Azucena Maizani. Also
Libertad Lamarque was one of the most recognised tango voices, she appeared on
many films and she was famous all across Latin America. Mercedes Simone was said
to be the feminine version of Gardel, because of her precise intonation, and is
still considered to be the most perfect female tango singer ever. During the 20s
and the 30s, the number of female names related to tango, grew. Some of the most
famous singers were Tita Merello, Ada Falcón, Mercedes Carné, María Esther
Podestá, Eva Franco.
Thanks to Noelia López for
her collaboration.
If you wish to send us
stories related to tango,
send us the information: info@elportaldeltango.com
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