The Tango is generally accepted to have originated in the West Indies and stylized by the gauchos in the lower class neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, particularly in the ill-famed and most  disreputable quarter of the city, ‘Barrio de las Ramas’.
     Others however contend that this sensual dance form was created in Argentina in the second half of the 1800s following the influx of immigrants from Spain, Italy and the Basque lands. The men had left their wives and fiancees behind, so they practiced their dancing skills with each other and later with women from the brothels.
     Several movements which afterwards became associated with the Tango were brought about by the dancing in cumbersome gear worn by the criollos and gauchos -- high top boots and spurs -- and  the women in full skirts.
     The dance was then known as baile con corté, the dance with a stop. Some men later introduced the dance into their favorite and quite disreputable cafes, substituting the original Indian rhythm with the habanera rhythm to produce a dreamy effect, and changing the name to Tango for better acceptance by a “higher class of society”.
     Before the turn of the 20th century, several amateur dancers made attempts to introduce the dance to Europe, but failed to tickle the fancy of the waltzers who then dominated the ballroom dancing world. But by 1907, the Tango was re-introduced, shorn of its objectionable features, by Monsieur Camille de Rhynal and Miss Gabrielle Ray at the Imperial Country Club in Nice, France. No less than the Grand Duchess Anastasia was impressed by the new dance among that small group of dance enthusiasts. That same year saw the first Tango Competition.
 Soon, and especially in the days before World War I, Tango Parties became  the rage in Paris, as Tango Teas became fashionable in London drawing rooms with an Argentine boy playing the piano.
     Yet the Tango of pre-1914 days was a very different dance from the Tango we know today. Back then, it was danced to habanera rhythm and was composed of countless steps and figures. Sometimes the figures were called by their Spanish names and sometimes by their French names. The situation then was not unlike that which we now encounter in Philippine ballrooms, where everyone has his own version, figures and style.
     Certain figures which were in general use at that time include: El Paseo (the Slow Walk), La Marcha (the Quicker Walk), El Corté (the Dip), Paseo con Golpe (the Walk with a Step), La Media Luna (the Half Moon), Las Tijeras (the Scissors), La Rueda (the Wheel) and El Ocho (the Eight).
     Interest in the Tango waned during the first world war, and was replaced temporarily by the livelier go-as-you-please Foxtrot. When the Tango was  seen again in the early 1920s, it was a chastened version of the previous years. As was written at the time: “There has been a marked alteration in the character of the music; the beat is more even and more subdued than before.  There is more variety in the accompaniment to the air, and the general effect is one of great smoothness. . . This evolution in the music is paralleled by, probably occasioned by, an analogous change in the style of the dance. The exotic original of the gaucho estancias (cattle ranches) and Boca cafes have been remolded more in accordance with the standards of the less ingenuous civilizations of Europe.”

Introduction of Technique
     The Tango techniques and figures were stabilized 15 years after its introduction to Europe,  in 1922, in a Conference of over 300 dance teachers where they agreed that in dancing the Tango: care should be taken to use only the modern tunes; the best music tempo was about 30 bars per minute; the feet must be kept straight and not pointed out (as opposed to the ballet technique); all figures, with the exception of the Promenade, should be completed in an exact number of bars; the Promenade was different because it occupied a bar and a half.
     Five of the more prominent figures then were described as: The Simple Walk, performed with a peculiar drag of the sole of the foot; The Argentine Walk - right, left, right to the side, close left to right; The Promenade (very little ‘opening out’) - left to the side, right over left, left to the side, close right; The Demi Vuelta - best described as a half of a Waltz Reverse Turn, ending with the left foot crossed in front of the right; and The Lace Step - a walking step in various directions.
     Styles vary in Tango: Argentine, French, Gaucho, International. Minor styles include the Criminal Tango and Apache Tango. Lately, we have also heard of the Indonesian Tango, the Chinese Tango and various other styles. Who can now stop us from calling the local style the Philippine Tango? The Americanized version is a combination of the best parts of each.