My Tango Books

• De Dios H.: Tango Buenos Aires Map Guide. Buenos Aires:De Dios Editores, 2003. ISBN 987-9445-13-9. Available in Argentina from www.dediosonline.com, in North America from www.gonetomorrow.com.
  Note: this is not a book but a map, but it contains a lot of useful information about tango in Bs.As. so I thought I'd list it here - Ernesto).
  Publisher's description: Guide and street map to the tango scene in the heart of Buenos Aires. Where to go to have the top ten essential tango experiences. Provides descriptions and shows the location of 101 places associated with tango. Provides addresses and phone numbers. Describes the top 20 tango clubs/places, called milongas. 3-day tango-related itinerary. Essential discography from the origins of the Guardia Vieja to the post-Piazzolla era Vanguard. Also a brief history of tango. Internet sites, radios, magazines, television, newspapers, books. Laminated.
  Ernesto's comment: Highly recommended. Map of the city center with many important locations and a lot of additional useful information. Possibly the second most important item to bring with you when visiting Buenos Aires (the most important one obviously being your tango shoes :-) (2004)
• Turner D.: A Passion for Tango. Dingley:Dingley Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9547083-0-X. Review to appear here soon...
• Collier S., Cooper A., Azzi M.S., Martin R.: !Tango! - Mehr als nur ein Tanz, München:Heyne, 1995. ISBN 3-453-09100-0. (The English version appeared under the title !Tango! at Thames and Hudson, London, 1995).
  Nicely written and informative, with excellent pictures. A beautiful tea-table book on tango. (2000)
• Nau-Klapwijk N.: Tango Dimensionen. München:Kastell, 1999. ISBN 3-924592-65-9.
  Nicole and her partner Ricardo are insiders, Europeans living in Buenos Aires, who have assimilated the tango as if they were Argentinians. Nicole's book gives many informations newcomers to the world of tango would like to know, and it is also of interest to people who are already acquainted with the tango, not to forget a large number of historic and contemporary photographs. This book is one of the few books that deal not only with the roots of tango and the music, but to a large extent with the dance, which is of course due to Nicole's lng-time experience as a tango dancer, tango teacher and tango performer. Although the book deals also with the technique of the dance, I would not consider it a teaching manual, but rather as an indispensable companion that offers a lot of background on the tango. Recommended! (Note: the book is in German as you might have guessed from the title, but I am sure there is / will be an English version, too.) (2000)
• Sartori R., Steidl P.: Tango. Die einende Kraft des tanzenden Eros. München:Hugendubel, 1999. ISBN: 3896313290.
  A very nicely written book about philocophical, esoteric and erotic aspects of the tango dance. When you dance tango, you will often experience the kind of déja-vue, thinking that exactly the thing described has happened to you, too, or you would phrase it in a similar way (at least this is what happened to me). The book does not cover the history of tango, which is no disadvantage, since there are many others which cover that aspect. In the treatment of its subject, the book is unique, and I liked it. It is no manual on how to (learn to) dance tango, but one of the authors has written such a training manual, too (see below). (2000)
• Sartori R.: Tango, Tanz des Herzens. Ein Unterrichtsbuch zum Argentinischen Tango. 1999. ISBN: 3980379566. (2000)
• Reichardt D.: Tango, Verweigerung und Trauer, Frankfurt:Suhrkamp, 1984. ISBN 3-518-37587-3.
  I recommend this book to everyone, even to those who do not speak German: it contains a wealth of material: texts of tangos in Spanish (and German), bibliographic details, etc. It is priced at 16 Deutschmarks - you get a lot for your money: pp. 1-185 history and background information, pp.188-397 texts of more than 90 tangos, pp.399-431 notes (incl. basic tango bibliography with 33 entries and short vitae of tango composers and interpreters), pp.432-450 discography. (1997)
• Hanna G.: Así bailaban el tango, Berlin:Metro, 1993. ISBN 3-928282-04-2.
  Strongly recommended. A review can be found here. (1997)
• Dinzel R.: El Tango - Una Danza, Buenos Aires:Corregidor, 1994. ISBN 950-05-0793-5.
  A fascinating book by one of the masters. Rodolfo Dinzel was a member of the famous "Tango Argentino" show in the 80's and he is a teacher at the Universidad de Tango in Bs.As. The book contains many details about what constitutes the tango as a dance.
  This book is also available in German and in English from Abrazos books. (2000)
• Copes J.C.: Let's Dance Tango / Bailemos Tango (span./engl.), Buenos Aires:La Canción, 1989. ISBN 950-22-0303-8.
  Copes - one of the best known tango maestros today - gives a good introduction to the dance and shows about ten figures together with diagrams and pictures. I like it. (2000)
• Salas H.: El Tango. Un Guía Definitiva. Buenos Aires:Aguilar, 1996.
  An encyclopedia with (mostly) biographic data of tango personalities. Includes an annex on music, dance, and other useful information. Definitely worth its money. (2000)
• Negro H., Pastor S.: El Tango y sus Poetas.Cortizo. ISBN 950-590-024-4.
  An anthology of tango texts, grouped by authors. Collected by Hector Negro, with drawings and pictures by Sigfredo Pastor. (2000)
• Janke E.: Tango - Die Berührung, Giessen:Focus, 1984. ISBN 3-88349-312-0.
  This book includes a single record with two pieces by Piazzolla. (2000)
• Labraña L., Sebastián A.: Tango - Introducción a la Historia del Tango, Buenos Aires:Libros de Tierra Firme, 1988.
  This is a printed version of the authors' diploma thesis on the history of tango. (1997)
• Christin P., Goetzinger A.: Le Tango du Disparu, Flammarion, 1989. ISBN 2-08-066201-5.
  A strange book. I got it as a present from my tango teacher. It is a sort of tango comics, neither scientific nor technical... but romantic people like me will like it. (1997)
• Aravena J.: El Tango - Die Geschichte von Carlos Gardel, Berlin:Transit, 1989. ISBN 3-88747-055-9.
  As the title says: the history of Carlos Gardel. (1997)
• Bottomer P.: Tango Argentino - The Technique, Toton:Sounds Sensational, 1990. ISBN 0-9517243-0-4.
  About 100 figures described in detail. A detailled review is available here. (1997)
• Savigliano M.E.: Tango and the Political Economy of Passion, Boulder:Westview Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8133-1638-3. (2000)