Tango y Cultura Popular ® English Edition TyCP Special | Page 8

by Héctor Negro
The capability to evolve and renew through different periods
has been one of Tango’s fundamental and permanent
characteristics, which has allowed it to be updated according
to changes and people’s sensibility. This is well known by
those who distinguish the representative expressions of each
epoch and the course of their evolution. Even the genre’s most
common devotees and habitual listeners of its expressions
can notice the variety of styles and expressive forms in the
instrumental as well as the sung aspect. What isn’t usually
highlighted, is that from its early stages, each contribution,
each attempt to change, caused the consequential criticism
and rejections from the moment’s “conservatism”. Testimonies
abound in this regard and such questions have existed
ever since Tango was born and consolidated its rhythm
and structure. One of the most shaken arguments was the
preservation of the “essence”, without clarifying what that
“essence” actually meant, which on the other hand, was in
constant change, as Tango itself was constantly changing.
On Tango
essence
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