The Vals
What is the vals? The Argentine vals, also called tango vals or vals criollo, is the waltz that reached Buenos Aires with European immigrants and is danced with tango steps, to a 3/4 rhythm. Together with tango and milonga, it is one of the three rhythms danced at every tango night.
The origins: the Viennese waltz meets tango
In the popular imagination, the word Tango evokes the Buenos Aires of the early 1900s, the city of brothels and outskirts, of men who always carried a knife in their pocket and women of ill repute.
Now let’s think of the Viennese “Walzer”: elegant clothes, royal receptions, majestic ballrooms and an aristocracy of times gone by.
It is precisely by blending these two distant dances, danced in completely different ways, that one of the most interesting hybrids in the history of dance was born.
Nothing is more explosive than dancing the music of the “bajofondo” to a more European and sophisticated rhythm, the ¾.
The huge wave of migration from Europe to Argentina in the second half of the 1800s inevitably influenced South American folk dances. So the Viennese Walzer landed in Buenos Aires and a different way of dancing Tango developed, to an odd rhythm like ¾.
How to dance the vals
The mix of popular melodies and the rhythm of aristocratic dances makes things harder for dancers on one hand, as they have to interpret one strong beat and two weak ones; on the other hand it frees the imagination: now this European rhythm can be danced in a completely new way!
The Viennese Walzer style, in which all three beats of the ¾ are danced, was soon abandoned. Instead, the dance is built on the first, strong beat, leaving dancers free to choose each time whether to mark the second or the third.
This decidedly more “porteño” or “tanguero” style allows dancers to use their Tango steps on the “Vals” rhythm.
The figures and sequences that most characterize Tango Vals are the Salida cruzada, the queen of Tango sequences, but also the turns (to the right and to the left), which are key elements of European waltzes too, the Cunitas and forward and back Ochos (adelante and atrás).
It is danced with the same steps as tango, but circular movements are preferred. There are fewer pauses and turns take centre stage.
Want to dance the vals?
In our Argentine tango classes we also study vals and milonga, with thematic workshops throughout the year. Classes in Milan and Livorno, and private lessons too.
Tango vals, vals cruzado, vals criollo
Tango Vals, also known as Vals Cruzado or Vals Criollo, is not only a direct descendant of the Viennese Walzer but also a close relative of the English Waltz (slower than the Viennese one) and of Italian and French waltzes.
Tango Vals (now simply called Vals) is a must in the endless dancing nights of Buenos Aires: together with Tango and Tango Milonga (or just Milonga), it is one of the musical genres that alternate during the evening.
Great orchestras and famous vals
Almost all the greatest composers and the most important Tango Orchestras also ventured into playing Tango Vals: Francisco Canaro, Rodolfo Biagi, Alfredo De Angelis, Edgardo Donato.
Among the most famous Tango Vals, a special mention goes to “Desde el alma”, written in 1911 by Rosita Melo when she was 14.
Other famous vals:
- Romance de barrio: Aníbal Troilo (music) – Homero Manzi (lyrics)
- Pedacito de cielo: Enrique Francini and Héctor Stamponi (music) – Homero Expósito (lyrics)
- Corazón de oro: Francisco Canaro
- Palomita blanca: Anselmo Aieta – Francisco García Jiménez
- La pulpera de Santa Lucía: Enrique Maciel – Héctor Pedro Blomberg, famous in the voice of Ignacio Corsini
- Caserón de tejas: Sebastián Piana – Cátulo Castillo
- Flores del alma: famous in the version by Alfredo De Angelis with Carlos Dante and Julio Martel
Vals Classes
Tango Touch Argentine Tango School
