Cortina (tango)

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A cortina (curtain) is a short piece (20-60 seconds) of non-tango music that is played between tandas at a tango dance party (a milonga (place)). The cortina lets the dancers know that the tanda has ended. When the cortina is heard, the partners thank each other and return to their own table. At the beginning of the new tanda following it, the dancers find a new partner. The purpose of cortinas being to create a partner change break in the music, the pieces used for cortinas can be classical, pop, folk, jazz, any genre as long as it is not likely to be mistaken for dance music. Cortinas are used at many of the milongas in Buenos Aires but as commonly outside Argentina.