"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." -- Choice Reviews "Global Tangos overturns many of the myths that have enshrouded Argentina's national dance since it became a global dance craze more than a century ago.

Reviewing an impressive array of materials drawn from mass media, social media, and her own experience on the dance floor on seemingly every continent, Melissa A. Fitch reveals how tango has been deployed to reimagine traditional gender roles, heal physical and emotional ills, and ignite social protest. This is an important contribution to our understanding of how popular dance forms cross borders and establish powerful transnational networks." --Celeste Fraser Delgado, co-editor of Everynight Life: Culture and Dance in Latin/o America "Global Tangos: Travels in the Transnational Imaginary is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature on contemporary tango. In thought-provoking snapshots of tango around the globe, Fitch connects its myriad manifestations to larger themes of cultural appropriation, neocolonialism, commodification, and identitarian politics. Her critique of the tango memoir is incisive, while she evokes the depths beneath its clichéd surface image in portraits of social activism, healing, and queer liberation via tango. Throughout, Fitch underscores the global pursuit of connection and community through the dance today." --Carolyn Merritt, author of Tango Nuevo, University Press of Florida.