Tango Canyengue Dancing Style

Canyengue (sometimes called Orillero) was originally used around the early 1900s to denote a lower class or 'street' tango. Nowadays, Canyengue is used for a particular style of tango characterised by playfulness, musicality, bent knees and a lead-right-cheek to follower-left-cheek contact.

Tango Canyengue
Canyengue position (photo attributed to Tango City)

Canyengue has the following attributes:

The lead and follower have bent knees.
The Canyengue is extremely playful and charismatic - often described as "incisive, exciting and provocative"; in the old guard of tango, it was said that the dancers had the 'Canyenguero mice' in their feet.
A characteristic is for the dancers to quite often walk together side-by-side or forwards.
Generally danced in close embrace, in a V-offset.
Both lead and follower share one axis.
Dancing is done with firm contact on the ground. Steps are small, historically limited by the tight fit of the women's dresses around the 1900s.
Canyengue makes significant use of the cortes, or stops - accentuated by the knees being bent. This is combined with a steady on-off beat (2/4) of dancing.
Another feature of the Canyengue is the corrida: small, quick steps to a run or almost run.
The joints from the waist up (shoulder, elbow and head) are much more mobile than normal tango, called body dissociation.
The spine is slightly soft, not rigid.
Contact is maintained chest to chest.
The follower is significantly offset to the lead's right, with the lead's right cheek in contact with the follower's left cheek.
The man's embrace is low compared to the woman's: The lead has his arm around just above the waist whereas the follower has her arm over the man’s shoulder.
Generally the cruzada is absent.
The contacting hands are often seen extremely low compared to other styles.

Tango Canyengue - Roxina Villegas and Adrian Griffero

Tango Canyengue - milonga by the MCCA (Movimiento Cultural Canyengue Argentino)

Tango Canyengue - Martha Anton and Manolo 'El Gallego' Salvador

Tango Canyengue - Anna Karrassik and Ernest Williams

Tango Canyengue - Anna Osvaldo

Tango Canyengue - Nahuel Barsi and Maria Cieri

Quote of the Day

Tango can be danced in a thousand different ways, but lets step on the ground first, because that is where the energy comes from. Therefore this is where we ought to dance to the music. Without the music there is no dance, no tango, no teacher, no student. A true teacher can only transmit the teaching the music has left him. -Pedro Rusconi

Today in Tango

Tango Canyengue Dancing Style

1937, February 22 – ROBERTO RAY RECORDS “SOLLOZOS”

1954, February 21 – BIRTH OF RAIMUNDO ROSALES

1983, February 20 – “CHANY” DEAD AT 28

1881, February 19 – BIRTH OF GABINO C. PENALOZA

1923, February 18 – VALENTINO DANCES AT TRIANON BALLROOM

1886, February 17 – BIRTH OF GENARO ESPOSITO

1861, February 16 – BIRTH OF ANGEL VILLOLDO

1940, February 15 – ROBERTO RUFFINO RECORDS “ALMA MIA”

1885, February 14 – BIRTH OF “EL CACHFAZ”

1891, February 13 – BIRTH OF IGNACIO CORSINI