Tango dance and tango music originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata, and spread to the rest of the world soon after. It is a dance that has influences from European and African culture. Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the modern day Tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The word "tango" seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, primarily Italians, Spanish and French.
Tango is a social dance and musical genre, written in 4/4 measure and with binary musical form. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments like the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, it quickly grew in popularity and was internationally spread. Among its leading figures are the singer and songwriter Carlos Gardel, composers like Mariano Mores, musicians like Osvaldo Pugliese and Ástor Piazzola, and dancers like Juan Carlos Copes, Miguel Angel Zotto and Gustavo Naveira.
In 2009, Argentina and Uruguay suggested that the Tango be inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists and in October of the same year UNESCO approved it.
