Bataclan Tango

Bataclan Tango is a non-profit organization committed to promoting Argentine culture and Argentine tango in the Twin Cities. Every year since our beginning in 2011 we have brought tango orchestras from Buenos Aires to play in concerts and milongas, giving tango lovers in the Upper Midwest the opportunity to be up close to the most authentic tango experience. Alejandro Ziegler Tango Quartet and Sexteto MIlonguero are examples of world class tango orchestras that our local community has enjoyed without going to Buenos Aires. In addition to promoting live music, every fourth Friday of the month Bataclan Tango organizes a milonga called “Mala Yunta” closely following the traditional style of Buenos Aires. We encourage “cabeceo” as a way to invite partners to the dance floor, include a dose of Argentine folk music, and generally bring the unique atmosphere of Buenos Aires to the Twin Cities dance floors. Why the name “Bataclan”? The origins of the word “bataclan” or “bataclana” go back to the the Paris of the 1860s. Ba-ta-clan is the name of an “opera bouffe” by Offenbach, which gave the name to a theatre or “cafe concert” opened in Paris in 1864. It became famous for its luxurious and exotic style, and sumptuous decor and costumes. The program consisted of vaudeville, operettas, chansonniers and numerous reviews. In 1922 “Bataclan de Paris” traveled to Buenos Aires, where the chorus-girls became a sensation and were called “bataclanas” by the “portenos”. This word soon passed into lunfardo (Argentine slang) and it was a popular name given to the “vedettes” and dancers of the spectacles in Buenos Aires, as well as to any woman with a “pretty face” and “graceful body”. The word “bataclana” is part of the old tangos, when they reference to women of “suspicious reputation”. Please visit our website: or send us an email with your feedback/suggestions” info@bataclantango.org Thank you for visiting us!