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Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Bandoneón

Have you ever in your life done some cooking or baking which you thought was coming along good or great? Then you innocently throw in an ingrediant that you knew would be good for your concoction but it isn´t until after you´ve thrown it into the mix that you realize how much life and flavor this one ingredient has added. And in that instant, your concoction has gone from good or even great all the way to............UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

That is exactly how I've been feeling the past few days after getting the fabulous opportunity to post Vanessa Winn's "The Immigrant's Tango". The poem was already strikingly beautiful in itself. But now seeing it added to this blog which has the theme and backdrop of Buenos Aires and tango, the sight of the poem there leaves me breathless every time I read it. Vanessa´s poem is like a dream ingredient or spice that unexpectedly has brought a whole new flavor and life to "Making the Same Difference". Not to mention the fragrant aroma too!

My favorite part of the poem is the line about "echoing the bandoneón's pull, push" And I want to add another layer of depth to the experience of reading the poem by explaining to our non-tango readers what a bandoneón is. A bandoneón is an instrument that is used in milongas and tango music. At first glance, one might think that it is an accordion but a closer look reveals that the the bandoneón comes from a very different family of instruments.

I found a really neat article on the history, use, and purpose of this instrument as well as it´s significance. The article is called "The Bandoneón, tango´s breathe of life". I recommend reading the article and then reading "The Immigrant's Tango" once more. There is no doubt in my mind that doing that would add another layer of depth to your experience of reading the poem. There is a quote from the article that nicely sums up the bandoneón's role.....

"The bandoneón is not only an instrument. The bandoneón is the intangible, raw passion of tango encapsulated in an inanimate object. It’s the lungs that fill and empty in cadence with its dancers."

Amorous Alpacas

Amorous Alpacas