Basic tango will be taught by Roberta Kulik at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Oak Park Arms retirement community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. Kulik will teach “the dance of love,” using a simple crossover step.
The tango 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.
In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals.
Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the US, and a new dance craze swept the nation.
Oak Park Arms Senior Living is a rental retirement community which provides senior housing in the form of independent living. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.
The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information call 708-386-4040.
