After eleven years living, dancing, teaching tango, and writing in Buenos Aires, I came home to L.A. in 2014, where I'm reconstructing my life.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Lofty Bandoneon



Hi Folks, I'm now in my hometown of Los Angeles trying to recover from my smoke allergy that made me a basket case in Buenos Aires this week. I thought I was too sick to travel, but then I thought, well heck, I'd better travel and get out of Dodge. These fires are another horrible aspect of the farmers' strike that emptied our supermarket shelves two weeks ago.

But first Ruben took me to the pharmacy for a nebulizer treatment, which made me feel better while I was doing it, but my asthma returned on the walk back home.

Anyway, from the L.A. Times comes this interesting article on the accordion, which includes information on every tanguero's favorite instrument, the bandoneon. Where would the tango be without its emotive, expressive voice? Heck, we'd still be dancing to flutes and guitars, or nowadays amplified basses and drum sets, or yeah, forgot, we'd be dancing to the electronic music of tango neuvo! (couldn't resist)

THE ACCORDION HOLDS A LOFTY PLACE by Constance Meyer

2 comments:

Beatrice M said...

Wow - you went back to the states? We were thinking of just heading out west, or maybe north to Cordoba. I hope you're doing alright back in EEUU and that your asthma clears up. When do you plan on coming back?

I love the bandoneon. I've taken a bunch of pics...

tangocherie said...

Hi Beatrice,

This was a trip I had planned for months to try and get the rest of my papers (they always want more!) for my long-term visa. So when I was so sick from the smoke I thought I couldn't go, but I did--not an easy trip. I'm doing a little better, but I've got a long way to go before I can do all that I have to do here. Meanwhile, I'm kicking back with my son and watching Tivo and videos.

I'll be back on May 7th.
Ruben is coping with teaching English speaking tango students with the help of Robin Tara of Tara's Tango Shoes! (Thanks, Robin!)

Love your bandoneon pics!