After two hundred years Argentine Tango has entered the Balls of Vienna: in the Imperial Palace of Hofburg (in the Salons of Empress Elisabeth of Austria known as Sisi)
Viennese balls have a long cultural tradition in the Austrian capital and their origin can be traced back to the 19th century,
to the time of the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). Indeed, since the beginning of the 19th century several professional groups
(e.g. medical doctors, lawyers, pharmacists) used to honour their respective profession by organizing balls. However,
not only guilds held balls but also other interest groups (e.g. hunters) as well as persons who liked, for instance, masquerade balls.
This tradition has survived until today and people can still enjoy the fascinating aspects of the balls and choose among more than
four hundred different balls every year which underlines the still ongoing vivid interest for these events.
Most of the balls takes place in the beautiful historical Viennese palaces that offer a wide choice of rooms and halls with different musical
styles allowing dancers to enjoy not only the classical three-quarter rhythm of the Wiener Walzer, but also other dance styles such as rock ´n´ roll,
salsa or even disco music and from 2017 also Argentine tango.
In this rich historical context, it is important to understand the relationship between the traditional Viennese Balls and Argentine tango.
At the beginning, Argentine tango was rejected by the middle and upper classes who were engaging in ballroom dances including the Viennese waltz.
Only in the decade between 1910 and 1920, Argentine tango started becoming fashionable in the major European capitals such as Paris, Berlin,
Rome and Vienna [1][2][3]. However, within the European society, the feelings towards this new dance were mixed. In Rome,
Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy banned Argentine tango from the balls in Quirinal Palace [3], Kaiser Wilhelm II,
the King of Bavaria and Kaiser Franz Joseph forbid their officers in uniform to dance this new rhythm [1][3].
In the Austrian capital Vienna, Argentine tango was deliberately excluded from the program of the 23rd ball of the City of Vienna
(year between 1920 and 1930) according to historical documents [3]. Only in 2017, Argentine tango has entered the traditional Viennese balls
through the prestigious Technische Universität Ball (Technical University Ball) [4], which now includes a milonga in its program [5][6][7].
Other balls have subsequently followed this example by including Argentine tango in their program such as the Concordia Ball (2018),
Vienna Ball of Sciences (2019 – 2023) and the Wiener Ball des Tanzes (2023).
Bibliography
[1] Otto Eder, Tango!!! Ein Fremdling in Wien, Vienna (Austria), el tango.revista Viena – Sonderedition, 2018
[2] “Das Wiener Tagblatt”, Vienna (Austria),19 Novembre 1913
[3] Roberto Finelli, Mappa del tango nel 1914, Radiocrossovertango.
[4] Technische Universität Ball (TU-Ball), http://www.tu-ball.at
[5] Auckland Tango, Evolution of Tango in Vienna and Buenos Aires, Auckland,
[6] Elefante, Stefano (September, 2019). “Tango in Vienna’s imperial palace”. Tango y Cultura Popular: 62-62
[7] Oliver Lehmann, Tango als Wissenschaft, Wissenschaftsball, 18 Marzo 2021.