Le Tango, LGBT nightclub in the Marais, Paris, France
Le Tango, also known as La Boîte à Frissons, is an LGBT nightclub on Rue au Maire in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, in the Marais neighborhood. Inside, the space has a wooden dance floor, red curtains, and a simple decor that recalls old Parisian dance halls.
A cabaret opened on this site in 1725, and by the late 1800s the venue had become a bal musette frequented mainly by migrants from the Massif central region of France. Over the 20th century, waltzes, java, and tango were added to the repertoire, eventually giving the place its current name.
Le Tango is also known as La Boîte à Frissons, which translates roughly as "the box of thrills." This nickname reflects how the night is organized: ballroom dancing fills the early hours, then the music shifts toward pop and soul as the evening goes on.
The club sits in the Marais neighborhood and is easy to reach on foot from nearby metro stops. Evenings start with ballroom dancing and shift after midnight, so arriving later gives a better sense of the full night.
In the 1990s, gay activist Hervé Latapie took over the venue and turned it into an LGBT club while keeping the tradition of ballroom dancing alive. In 2021, the city of Paris bought the building to protect it, combining the club with social housing in the same project.
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