11th December: Tango Day

In Buenos Aires, they celebrate Tango Day today. And here in the UK, the competition is hotting up in Strictly Come Dancing with the semi final on Saturday, so what better time to share 10 things you may not know about the tango:

1. The word "tango" comes from the Latin word tangere, which means touch.
2. It originated in bars in Argentina and was heavily influenced by the dances of slaves at the time. Hence the Argentine tango is thought to be the most authentic of all the different types.
3. Other varieties of the dance include Tango Nuevo, Ballroom tango, Finnish tango and Queer tango, in which traditional paired dance roles are ignored, allowing same sex couples to dance it together, or for couples to swap roles, so the woman leads and the man follows. Who leads and who follows can change several times during the dance.
4. In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze was in Paris, then it spread to London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the US, and Finland.
5. Tango is danced anti-clockwise around the outside of the dance floor.
6. There are no set steps - the dancers improvise.
7. In September 2006, Timothy Ferriss and Alicia Monti broke the world record for the number of tango spins in one minute (37) live on American television.
8. On the 14th of this month, a couple called Brett and Jenny will be attempting to set an endurance record by tango dancing the Honolulu marathon. All 26.2 miles of it. It will be the first time a couple has tangoed a marathon course.
9. Tangolates is an exercise method that combines the core stability of Pilates with the concentration, coordination and fluid movement of Tango, designed in 2004 by Tamara Di Tella.
10. The dance has featured in many films, including Last Tango in Paris, Death on the Nile, Never Say Never Again, Scent of a Woman, Strictly Ballroom, Addams Family Values, Schindler's List, Evita, The Mask of Zorro, Moulin Rouge! and Chicago.