Finnish tango ( fi, suomalainen tango), or FINtango, music is an established variation of the

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

but whose rhythm follows the

Ballroom tango Ballroom tango is a ballroom dance that branched away from its original Argentine roots by allowing European, American, Hollywood, and competitive influences into the style and execution of the dance. The present day ballroom tango is divided into ...

. It was one of the most popular music forms for decades in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Brought to Europe in the 1910s, and to Finland itself in 1913, by travelling musicians, Finns began to take up the form and write their own tangos in the 1930s. The first Finnish tango was written by Emil Kauppi in 1914 for a film called ''Salainen perintömääräys'' (meaning The Secret Testament). It features a typical Finnish rhythm pattern with habanera. In the 1920s the tango was danced exclusively by

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

’s bohemians. By the 1940s about half of the entries on the popular music charts were occupied by tangos, and the post war period saw tangos spread from a popular urban phenomenon to their enthusiastic adoption by the countryside as well. Finnish tango peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Special characteristics of Finnish tango include the change of rhythm to beguine during chorus. Also habanera rhythm is often used. The bandoneon was replaced by the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

were added. The Finnish tango is distinguished from other forms of tango by its almost exclusive performance in

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

and themes reflecting established conventions in Finnish folklore. As the head of the Finnish National Broadcaster's gramophone library explains, "The central themes of Finnish tango lyrics are love, sorrow, nature and the countryside. Many tangos express a longing for the old homestead, or a distant land of happiness. The changing seasons of Finnish nature are frequently used metaphors: the spring breaks the hold of the winter, and flowers appear, creating new expectations. Autumn rains and dark evenings are symbols of crushed hopes." One of the highlights of Finnish summers is the

Tangomarkkinat The Tangomarkkinat is the world's oldest tango festival. It is held early every July in Seinäjoki, Finland. As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live mu ...

, or tango festival, held annually since 1985 in the central Finnish town of

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

. The festival attracts more than 100,000 participants annually (from a population of just over 5 million) and is capped by the coronation of the tango King and Queen, who receive much domestic media attention and often recording contracts as well. Another tango festival is the International Helsinki Frostbite Tango Festival. The city of

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

hosts the much smaller annual Maailmantango (World of Tango festival). The most well known Finnish tango composers are

Olavi Virta Olavi Virta (originally to 1926 Oskari Olavi Ilmén) (27 February 1915 in Sysmä, Grand Duchy of Finland – 14 July 1972 in Pispala, Tampere, Finland) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango. Between 1939 a ...

("Punatukkaiselle tytölleni"), Toivo Kärki ("Liljankukka") and

Unto Mononen Unto Uuno Mononen (23 October 1930 in Muolaa – 28 June 1968 in Somero) was a Finnish songwriter and musician. He is best known for his numerous tango compositions including the famous Finnish tango song, ''" Satumaa".'' His first name was ori ...

Satumaa "Satumaa" (roughly, in English "The Fabled Land" or "The Fairytale Land") is the quintessential Finnish tango. It was written by Unto Mononen, and published in 1955. The most famous recording is probably the one made by Reijo Taipale in 1962. The ...

").

Tango, the dance

Tango was first performed in Finland by Finns in 1913. Since then tango has evolved in Finland to a distinctive form. Finnish tango as a dance has characteristics that differ from both competitive and Argentine tango. There is a close contact in the pelvis, upper thighs, and the upper body. Finnish tango is often taught with a SSQQ (slow, slow, quick, quick) basic step sequence, with QQS or SQQ used for the beguine or habanera parts so often found in Finnish tango pieces, although a skilled dancer might use slows and quicks just as he wishes to match either the melody or the rhythm. Dips and rotations are frequent. There are no kicks or aerials in Finnish tango. Typically feet stay close to the floor, except in dips the follower might slightly raise the left leg. Steps forward are mainly heel-leads. Only if a forward step is taken during a fall (descending from a rise), the ball touches the floor first. When moving backwards, the heel pushes off the floor. The step sequence may be executed either by closing the last quick step or by letting feet pass each other. The dance is horizontal with optional rises and falls; steps are low and to allow this, the dance position is low with the supporting leg bent. The passing leg moves quickly to rest for a moment close to the grounded leg. Compared to Argentine tango, Finnish tango is more related to (slow) foxtrot, but the feel is different because the weight shift happens close to the end of the beat and the pushing foot will accelerate only to pause next to the grounded one before it moves forward to a long step that is made even longer by pushing off the other leg in the end. Finnish tango requires a lot of space. The Tangomarkkinat festival also hosts dancing competitions, among them Finnish tango. Non-Finnish contestants also participate.

References

{{Reflist Finnish music Music scenes Tango dance fi:Tango#Suomalainen tango