When did the peculiar custom of men gathering in the middle of the dance floor, to cabeceo the ladies sitting at the tables emerged?
The tango, Muchachos, Comienza la Ronda, by Leopoldo Diaz Velez to the music of Luis Porcellano that directly alludes to this custom. It was recorded by both Osvaldo Pugliese with Roberto Chanel and Ricardo Tanturi with Enrique Campos in 1943.
Muchachos, comienza la ronda que el tango invita a formar QuiÈn, al oir el arranque de un son tan brillante, no sale a bailar?
Guys, the round is starting That the tango invites us to form. Who, hearing this starter which is so brilliant would not go dancing?
In order for men to gather in the middle of the floor, or to use an across-the-floor cabeceo, the floor itself must have been cleared of all dancing couples, and the only way to achieve that for the live orquesta was to stop playing the music.
But, when did they stop? How long was a tanda?
As it turns out, we have precise answers to those questions in the wonderful tango Danza Maligna, with its anthem-like lyrics by Claudio Frollo and music by Fernando Randle. It was first recorded by Azucena Maizani in 1929, and later by Imperio Argentina, Carmelita Aubert, and Francisco Lomuto, and in 1940 by Enrique Rodriguez with Armando Moreno.
This tango contains by far most favorite quote of mine:
Te invito a penetrar en este templo donde todo el amor lo purifica. Viviremos los dos el cuarto de hora de la danza nost · lgica y maligna!
I invite you to enter this temple where everything is purified by love. Together weíll live through the quarter hour of a nostalgic and evil dance!
This quote gives us both the timing of the historical tanda, and the proof that the custom of dancing with the same partner for quarter hour existed as far back as in 1929. It is not a coincidence that this timing is exactly the same as the timing of an orquesta tÌpica set on the radio— the same magical quarter hour.
A live orquesta of the thirties would play five to seven songs in one uninterrupted set. Given a standard length of a song of the time was between two and three minutes, this would be about fifteen minutes. It would include mostly tangos, but possibly an occasional vals, polca or fox-trot, and in later years, milongas, as well. The band would then go silent for a while, allowing to clear the floor and change partners.
While the word tanda itself is of dubious origin, the etymology of cortina( curtain) is obvious- the stage curtain would be closed when the orquesta was not playing. Also, we can imagine that in a big venue, cortinas might have been spiced up by a solo number of an aspiring talent. The most prestigious venues and carnival organizers might hire more than one orquesta on the same date, and alternate them over the course of the night.
Without either disputing the academia origin of tandas circa the beginning of the 20th century, or arguing about modern orquestas habits, or relying on eye-witness accounts, we have established that the custom to play music in quarter-hour tandas separated by cortinas was firmly planted with the live orquestas as early as the year 1929.
Original recording of Danza Maligna, 1929.
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