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Tango craze: British ballroom version imagined, 1913
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Tango craze: British ballroom version imagined, 1913
" The tango untangled, and made suitable for use in British ballrooms." The Bystander imagines a sanitised version of the tango, suitable for dancing in respectable British ballrooms, with minimum physical contact. Date: 1913
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Media ID 14139444
© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans
Comedy Concepts Contact Craze Dancers Demure Modesty Morals Partner Physical Prude Prudish Reserved Tango Version Ballrooms Propriety
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The Tango Untangled - A Sanitised Version for British Ballrooms, 1913
EDITORS COMMENTS
The year was 1913, and the tango craze had swept across Europe and the United States, leaving a trail of excitement, controversy, and moral panic in its wake. In Britain, however, the respectable classes were yet to be won over by this seductive Argentine dance. The Bystander magazine imagined a solution: a sanitised version of the tango, suitable for use in British ballrooms. The image before you captures the humorous take on this Anglicised tango, with its demure and reserved dancers. The man, dressed in a tailored suit and top hat, maintains a respectful distance from his partner, who is adorned in an elegant gown and a modest, high-necked blouse. Their bodies are carefully positioned, with minimal physical contact, and their expressions suggest a certain prudish amusement. The caption accompanying the image reads, "The Tango Untangled," and the dancers are shown in a lighthearted, almost comedic, way, as if to reassure the readers that this was a harmless pastime. The concept of the tango, with its sultry movements and passionate embrace, had been untangled and made suitable for the British sense of propriety and morals. This image is a fascinating glimpse into the social and cultural attitudes of the time, and the lengths to which people went to adapt new trends to fit their own values and sensibilities. The tango may have been a wild and exotic dance, but in Britain, it was tamed and made respectable, ready for the ballrooms of the day.
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