Tango Lessons

"Tango is unique in Argentine history. More than a national music and dance, it has been considered the defining icon of Buenos Aires and of Argentina's vibrant cultural history. Yet, despite its notoriety, scholarship on tango, especially in English, is surprisingly scant. Tango Lessons makes an important contribution by bringing together in one volume profoundly original essays investigating tango as a multifaceted cultural form." - Florencia Garramuño, author of Primitive Modernities: Tango, Samba, and Nation

"Until now, scholars have known little about the social, cultural, and economic aspects of contemporary tango. This collection brings tango scholarship up to date. Deeply involved in the contemporary tango scene, contributors convey a broad and timely appreciation of tango as a dance, a musical genre, a type of lyrical song, a historical archive, and a cultural form that is alive and evolving." - Arlene Dávila, author of Culture Works: Space, Value, and Mobility across the Neoliberal Americas

“This is a book to read carefully and to savor for each essay's distinctive take on the contemporary tango…. It is impossible in a brief review to do justice to such a varied collection of essays… [T]his is a solid and diverse collection, and the detailed and highly informative footnotes further embellish the essays. Even those readers who are well versed in tango history will learn a great deal from Tango Lessons.” - Deborah Jakubs, Hispanic American Historical Review

"[T]he volume is to be commended for its consistent quality of prose and strength of analysis across contributions, especially given the international makeup and disciplinary diversity of the authors. The range of topics, methods, disciplinary perspectives, and regional voices provides a rich tapestry of content that in the hands of a lesser editor might suffer from a lack of coherence or conformity." - Joanna Bosse, Ethnomusicology