Though we usually associate the tango with Argentina, it is worth knowing that the dance took strong root in Poland between the World Wars. This was due to gramophone records, press articles, and films.
The Illustrated Weekly (Pol. Tygodnik Illustrowany), published in Warsaw, wrote this about the beginnings of the tango in our country in 1913: ‘The roaring, revelling society has found a refuge from the spectre of boredom, this time drawing inspiration from the American pampas and the shores of La Plata, from which there comes the rhythm of a new dance. Thirsty for ever new thrills, the crowd has plunged in its intoxicating whirl.’
A major role in transplanting the tango to Poland was played by choreographer Edward Józef Kuryłło, who introduced this then most fashionable dance to the Warsaw world by presenting it at the Nowości operetta theatre. This is what we read in that theatre’s annals: ‘Lucyna Messal and Józef Redo were among the first to dance the tango in public in a production of [Jacobi’s] The Marriage Market, shown on Tuesday, 28th October 1913.’ On the day preceding the premiere, The Morning Courier (Pol. Kurier Poranny) announced: ‘As of tomorrow, Messal and Redo undertake to teach the partying Warsaw how to dance the tango. It has reached us from Paris, and is, like all the fashions, a quarter of a year late (…). Yet we have naturally lost nothing by this delay. The tango, they say, came to Paris from Argentina…’
This is how the rhythm of the tango began to reign supreme on Polish stages, in Polish movies, and at popular dance parties, bringing joy to listeners, spectators, and dancers alike. Its hot rhythms found their way to the works of such Polish music composers as Artur Gold, Leo Haber, Henryk Wars, and Zygmunt Wiehler. 1929 saw the composition by Jerzy Petersburski of the famous ‘Tango milonga’, which became a global hit.
The most famous tango text authors in Poland included poets Marian Hemar, Jerzy Jurandot, Bolesław Leśmian, Julian Tuwim, and Andrzej Włast. Poland’s largest prewar record company, Syrena Rekord, recorded and released around 2200 pieces in the tango rhythm. This can serve as a measure of the popularity of this dance in Poland.
110 years after the unforgettable Polish premiere of The Marriage Market, pre-WWII Warsaw hits return on another Tuesday, 21st February 2023 (at 7 p.m.). They will be performed at the Lentz Villa in Daniel Pacitti and Waldemar Szymański’s new arrangements by GRUPO GARDEL, consisting of: Piotr Ciquilito Wawrowski (vocals), Daniel Pacitti (bandoneon), Ewa Tomaszewska (piano), Andrzej Mokry (guitar), Guy Tuneh (double bass), and Tomasz Tomaszewski (violin). Piotr Tomaszewski will be our master of ceremonies.
Please join us at the Lentz Villa for this event, which ends the 2023 carnival season. Entry exclusively in carnival masks (which can also be purchased at the Lentz Villa).
