Melissa A. Fitch is associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona.

This collection of unusual, readable essays expands scholarly writing on dance, making dance an element of social globalization. Incorporating background on the complex emotional and cultural roles the tango plays in Argentina, Fitch uses the dance as a distinct and recognizable lens through which to explore the forces of transnationalism, access to technology, and social media. Having noted in the introduction that 'the central question is how ... social identities are codified in the presentation of dance,' the author reviews the tango's global explosion, which has moved tango culture far beyond its geographic roots. Beginning with a chapter on the basic images and clichés related to the tango in media (ranging from the films of Rudolph Valentino to I Love Lucy), Fitch explores tango tourism, the rise of queer tango performances and their contexts, the therapeutic use of the tango as meditation, and the tango as a vehicle for and an element of social protest. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers.

• Notes on TranslationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: ArrivalChapter One: Foundational Clichés: From Valentino to ViagraChapter Two: Tango “Discovery” and the Neocolonial GazeChapter Three: Queer RebellionsChapter Four: Touch, Healing and ZenChapter Five: Activism, Social Media, Crisis and CommunityConclusion: Departure Appendix: Tango in NumbersBibliographySound RecordingsIndexAbout the Author

Melissa A. Fitch is associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona.

This collection of unusual, readable essays expands scholarly writing on dance, making dance an element of social globalization. Incorporating background on the complex emotional and cultural roles the tango plays in Argentina, Fitch uses the dance as a distinct and recognizable lens through which to explore the forces of transnationalism, access to technology, and social media. Having noted in the introduction that 'the central question is how ... social identities are codified in the presentation of dance,' the author reviews the tango's global explosion, which has moved tango culture far beyond its geographic roots. Beginning with a chapter on the basic images and clichés related to the tango in media (ranging from the films of Rudolph Valentino to I Love Lucy), Fitch explores tango tourism, the rise of queer tango performances and their contexts, the therapeutic use of the tango as meditation, and the tango as a vehicle for and an element of social protest. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers.

• Notes on TranslationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: ArrivalChapter One: Foundational Clichés: From Valentino to ViagraChapter Two: Tango “Discovery” and the Neocolonial GazeChapter Three: Queer RebellionsChapter Four: Touch, Healing and ZenChapter Five: Activism, Social Media, Crisis and CommunityConclusion: Departure Appendix: Tango in NumbersBibliographySound RecordingsIndexAbout the Author

Melissa A. Fitch is associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona.

This collection of unusual, readable essays expands scholarly writing on dance, making dance an element of social globalization. Incorporating background on the complex emotional and cultural roles the tango plays in Argentina, Fitch uses the dance as a distinct and recognizable lens through which to explore the forces of transnationalism, access to technology, and social media. Having noted in the introduction that 'the central question is how ... social identities are codified in the presentation of dance,' the author reviews the tango's global explosion, which has moved tango culture far beyond its geographic roots. Beginning with a chapter on the basic images and clichés related to the tango in media (ranging from the films of Rudolph Valentino to I Love Lucy), Fitch explores tango tourism, the rise of queer tango performances and their contexts, the therapeutic use of the tango as meditation, and the tango as a vehicle for and an element of social protest. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers.

• Notes on TranslationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: ArrivalChapter One: Foundational Clichés: From Valentino to ViagraChapter Two: Tango “Discovery” and the Neocolonial GazeChapter Three: Queer RebellionsChapter Four: Touch, Healing and ZenChapter Five: Activism, Social Media, Crisis and CommunityConclusion: Departure Appendix: Tango in NumbersBibliographySound RecordingsIndexAbout the Author