Argentina Travel: Suggested Samba and Tango Vacation Itinerary

Mar 18
09:19

2010

Matthew Barker

Matthew Barker

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The samba and the tango, South America travel experiences you don’t want to miss, explained by a Latin America travel expert at Latin America For Less

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The expression “It takes two to tango” is an idiom meaning that the subject cannot be done without more than one person and is often used with a slightly negative or at least mischievous connotation, Argentina Travel: Suggested Samba and Tango Vacation Itinerary Articles referring to infidelity or conspiracy. This phrase was originally coined in a song composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and since then it’s been used in political situations and in the media making its way into popular language. Some of the song lyrics are ‘You can sail in a ship by yourself, Take a nap or a nip by yourself. You can get into debt on your own. There are lots of things that you can do alone.   (But it) Takes two to tango’ ...etc.

So we are confident about the number of people it takes to dance the tango, but how many people does it take to Samba? Referring to expert sources on the web, the answer is evidently two. So Samba is a two person dance as well as the Tango. If popular culture had been so inclined, the phrase could have been coined ‘It takes two to samba,’ though it lacks the same ring.

To learn more about the Samba and the Tango it is recommended that you visit Brazil and Argentina respectively. While the internet can be a great ‘How to’ resource, when it comes to dancing the Samba, you really need to do it for yourself, and what better place to do that Rio de Janeiro, the exciting and lively coastal city in Brazil. Rio claims to have a musical soul and with beautiful beaches bumping up against this vibrant city, the samba is a popular activity day and night, all through the year. Visit Rio during Carnival and you are likely to experience a lifetimes worth of Samba in one week.

The Tango, however can best be explored in Buenos Aires, the vibrant capital of Argentina and home to arguably the best Tango dancers in the world. Buenos Aires has been dancing the Tango for over a hundred years, carefully molding it into the professional and powerful dance it is today. They dance so much Tango they’ve even declared a national “Tango Day” on December 11 where the whole country takes a day to really consider the special meaning and cultural significance behind this dance.

These neighboring countries are separated by the Iguazu River and Iguazu Falls, the most amazing waterfall in the world that is actually a collection of 275 individual falls. The powerful water of the Iguazu River cascading over scaling cliffs and enormous boulders is an immense and spiritual experience. The falls can be visited from both Argentina and Brazil offering very different and equally awesome perspectives.

If you’re like me maybe you are wondering if Samba dancers ever dance the Tango or Tango dancers every dance the Samba. Iguazu Falls would be a good place to go to find out because of it’s location on the border. Rio de Janeiro may be the suggested location for dancing the Samba and Buenos Aires for dancing the Tango, but one can’t help but wonder what people dance at Iguazu Falls. Perhaps some sort of Samba-Tango fusion, likely called the Tangba. Why not a vacation to find out?