Cortina (tango)

A cortina (curtain) is a short piece (20–60 seconds) of music that is played between tandas at a milonga (tango dance event).^[1] The cortina lets the dancers know that the tanda has ended. The partners can then thank each other and return to their own tables, to find a new dance partner at the next tanda. Cortinas are used at many of the milongas in Argentina and Uruguay and increasingly elsewhere.

References

1. Beatriz Dujovne In Strangers' Arms: The Magic of the Tango 2011 Page 62 "When the 15-minute tanda of four dances is over, and the cortina (interlude) music plays,..."