The Tango in the United States: A History

Rating:
Summary: The Tango in the United States
Review: A friend gave me this book as a birthday gift, because I love tango. I was hook up from the begining. The amount of information -quantity and quality- it's amazing and revealing.
I never heard in my whole life that the tango was in the USA for such a long time, almost a century.
I did hear before that Irene and Vernon Castle danced tango, because I saw their biographical picture with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Also I saw Valentino dancing tango en "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". But that Xavier Cugat, Bing Crosby and Tony Martin recorded tangos, I never heard.
To my full surprise I found that Gerry Mulligan also composed and recorded tango with tango master Astor Piazzolla.
The book looks very well docomented, and beautifully illustrated with some historical pictures.
I highly recomend it to all the people interested not only in tango but also in the development and influence that foreign music had in jazz.

Rating:
Summary: tango in the united states
Review: i bought this book as a "coffe table book" to be uesd as a conversation ice breaker at my last party and it worked. i was amazed at the amount of poeple interested in tango and we all ended up reading different sections of it out loud. i was specially impresed with the specific detail of each artist and all the faboulous pictures.it's a must have for every music lover and "coffee table".

Rating:
Summary: tango in the united states
Review: i bought this book as a "coffe table book" to be uesd as a conversation ice breaker at my last party and it worked. i was amazed at the amount of poeple interested in tango and we all ended up reading different sections of it out loud. i was specially impresed with the specific detail of each artist and all the faboulous pictures.it's a must have for every music lover and "coffee table".

Rating:
Summary: A Century of Tango
Review: Many younger dancers, and some not-so-young ones think that the Tango arrived in the U.S. in 1985 when the show, "Tango Argentino", debuted in New York City. Carlos Groppa more than corrects this error in his book, "Tango in the United States: A History" (McFarland Co.). He takes us back to the first appearances of Tango at the beginning of the 20th century. Mr. Groppa asserts that the Tango has outlasted all other dance fads in the U.S., through good times and bad. In text and visual illustration, we meet fascinating dancers, musicians, and actors who helped make the Tango a permanent part of the American scene, from Vernon & Irene Castle, James Reece Europe, Rudolph Valentino, Carlos Gardel,and Xavier Cugat, to Astor Piazzolla, and the creators and performers of shows in more recent times, such as Juan Carlos Copes, Maria Nieves, and the Sexteto Mayor of the aforementioned "Tango Argentino". This is just the tip of a fascinating iceberg, which is lovingly described by the extremely knowledgeable author. This book is a "must" for anyone with a real interest in the Tango, whether as a dancer or as an observer.
Felicidades y muchas gracias, Sr. Groppa!

Rating:
Summary: A Century of Tango
Review: Many younger dancers, and some not-so-young ones think that the Tango arrived in the U.S. in 1985 when the show, "Tango Argentino", debuted in New York City. Carlos Groppa more than corrects this error in his book, "Tango in the United States: A History" (McFarland Co.). He takes us back to the first appearances of Tango at the beginning of the 20th century. Mr. Groppa asserts that the Tango has outlasted all other dance fads in the U.S., through good times and bad. In text and visual illustration, we meet fascinating dancers, musicians, and actors who helped make the Tango a permanent part of the American scene, from Vernon & Irene Castle, James Reece Europe, Rudolph Valentino, Carlos Gardel,and Xavier Cugat, to Astor Piazzolla, and the creators and performers of shows in more recent times, such as Juan Carlos Copes, Maria Nieves, and the Sexteto Mayor of the aforementioned "Tango Argentino". This is just the tip of a fascinating iceberg, which is lovingly described by the extremely knowledgeable author. This book is a "must" for anyone with a real interest in the Tango, whether as a dancer or as an observer.
Felicidades y muchas gracias, Sr. Groppa!