The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Argentine Milonga, Spanish-Cuban Habanera, and Uruguayan Candombe celebrations.

[1] It was frequently practiced in the brothels and bars of ports, where business owners employed bands to entertain their patrons.

[6] [7]Dances from the Candombe ceremonies of former African enslaved people helped shape the modern day tango.

became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants.

Additionally, the combination of African, Native American and European cultural influences in tango was new and unusual to most of the Western world.

[12] In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals.

In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930, caused a temporary decline in tango's popularity.

Its fortunes were reversed later in the 1930s, and tango again became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the first Perón government, which in turn had a major effect on Argentinian culture overall.

[20] This theory suggests that the word “shangó” was morphed through the dilution of the Nigerian language once it reached South America via slave trade.

[20] This word was then mispronounced by Buenos Aires’ lower-class inhabitants to become tambo, ultimately resulting in the common tango.

[22][7][23] The tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras of Argentina, as well as in other locations around the world.

In tango canyengue the dancers share one axis, dance in a closed embrace, and with the legs relaxed and slightly bent.

Tango canyengue uses body dissociation for the leading, walking with firm ground contact, and a permanent combination of on- and off-beat rhythm.

Bajofondo Tango Club, a Rioplatense music band consisting of seven musicians from Argentina and Uruguay, released their first album in 2002.

The novelty lies in the new songs, with today's lyrics and language, which find inspiration in a wide variety of contemporary styles.

Other bands also have become part of the movement such as the Orquesta Rascacielos, Altertango, Ciudad Baigón, as well as singer and songwriters Alfredo "Tape" Rubín,[25] Victoria di Raimondo,[25] Juan Serén,[25] Natalí de Vicenzo[25] and Pacha González.

There is no open position, and typically feet stay close to the floor, except in dips the follower might slightly raise the left leg.

In ballroom tango, the body is initially set in motion across the floor through the flexing of the lower joints (hip, knee, ankle) while the feet are delayed, then the feet move quickly to catch the body, resulting in snatching or striking action that reflects the staccato nature of this style's preferred music.

In tango, the steps are typically more gliding, but can vary widely in timing, speed, and character, and follow no single specific rhythm.

The American Ballroom Tango's frame is flexible too, but experienced dancers frequently dance in closed position: higher in the elbows, tone in the arms and constant connection through the body.

In Tango from the River Plata region, the "close embrace" involves continuous contact at the full upper body, but not the legs.

Followers are instructed to thrust their hips forward, but pull their upper body away and shyly look over their left shoulder when they are led into a "corte".

In tango from the River Plate region, the open position, the legs may be intertwined and hooked together, in the style of Pulpo (the Octopus).

Music and dance elements of tango are popular in activities related to gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc., because of its dramatic feeling and its cultural associations with romance.

For the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, Adidas designed a ball and named it Tango, likely a tribute to the host country of the event.

[30] This design was also used in 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain as Tango Málaga,[31] and in 1984 and 1988 UEFA European Football Championships in France and West Germany.

This changed the mechanics of the dance to be closer to two equally leading roles between men and women or same sex pairs.