Music and dance are a form of language. This is never more true than in the film Tango. Tango is a very sensual dance that speaks to their dance partner as well as to the audience. There is power to the music when combined with the rhythm of dance. When this is coupled with special lighting, the message comes across loud and clear. For example, when Laura was dancing, it drew Mario in from across the room and he lusted for her in her red outfit, with the stage and lighting in hues of red and pink, and the music of intense drums making for a steamy scene. It was interesting how they colored the stage and lighting green during the "trio tango", which may be interpreted as representing jealousy and envy. Other uses of color to assist in nonverbal communication were when the dances used the contrast of black and white to depict evil versus goodness. One of the dances had opposing white (good) and black (evil) dancers, which lead to them intertwining or invading one another. This may have been showing how peacefulness was overcome by suppression and human injustice. The ending scene clearly shows the desperate people being displaced from their home and their land. Although there is a sense of helplessness and despair, they find comfort in music and dance which appropriately portrays it's value to the warm Hispanic culture.
Beth Niehaus
