Tango and its poetry: from verses to milongas
The story of how tango became literature and literature became tango
Tango & Tango - Interviews (2024-07-19) by Lucia Inés OteizaThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
A literary beginning
2001 saw a generation searching for their roots. Matías Mauricio discovered tango in his grandfather's workshop, amid the noise of the equipment and a radio that never stopped playing its suburban verses.
Tango & Tango - Interview with Leandro Gómez (2024-07-20) by Lucia Inés OteizaThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
Old maestros
Discépolo, Manzi, Castillo and Expósito: the pillars supporting the lyrical tradition of tango. Each had its unique vision, mixing the popular with cultured poetry.
Interviews at Tango & Tango (2024-07-20) by Lucia Inés OteizaThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
A complex art
"You have to land a punch in three minutes," says Mauricio. Tango lyrics are not textbook poetry: they are an artform that has to work with melody, dance, and collective memory.
Tango in the streets | Florida Street (2024-07-28) by Pablo Germán PanaroThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
Evolving words
From Sur to La última curda, tango always speaks to Buenos Aires. Today's cartoneros (litter collectors) are yesterday's cirujas (rag-and-bone men): the city evolves, but their stories remain.
Tango in the streets | Corrientes Avenue (2024-07-28) by Pablo Germán PanaroThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
Street poets
As Mauricio says: "Every poet must tell the truth, even if he lies sweetly." Tango lyrics involve being an artist with one foot in poetry and the other in the street.
Tango in the streets | San Telmo (2024-07-28) by Pablo Germán PanaroThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
A mix of words
From surrealism to Lunfardo, tango absorbs everything. "Braids the color of bitter maté that sweetened my dull lethargy." Expósito combined the avant-garde with the popular.
Milonga at Lo de Celia Tango Club (2024-07-13) by Lucia Inés OteizaThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
Tango's words
Tango is more than lyrics: it's music, it's dance, it's an embrace. Poetry should work both in milonga and on paper, it should resonate both through the bandoneon and the voice.
Milonga at Lo de Celia Tango Club (2024-07-13) by Lucia Inés OteizaThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
Ideas that travel
From Pompeya to Ireland, from Buenos Aires to Morocco: tango travels. Born in the streets of Buenos Aires, its verses touch hearts all over the world.
Milonga La Marshall (2024-07-26) by Pablo Germán PanaroThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
Ancestral themes
Love, time, death, the city: the themes are always the same. The grace, says Mauricio, is in how you tell them, in finding your own voice within the tradition.
Milonga La Marshall (2024-07-26) by Pablo Germán PanaroThe National Secretariat of Culture of Argentina
An everyday art
For Mauricio, tango is the earth, it's a way of breathing. It's that bus that never stops, that hug with an old lady, the disappointments of the country: it's life itself transformed into poetry.
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