If in some way what we eat reflects what we are, what we hear gradually becomes what we represent. Finally, in essence, we are made of the intangible, like dreams, magic and music. As Latin Americans we are known as cheerful, kind, friendly and passionate people. Knowing how to live in joy can be translated into music as much as sadness or nostalgia, the longing for what could be and was not latent characteristics in us from past times. In my opinion, the most popular Latin American equivalent for all those emotions is the Bolero.

To the beat of a slow and melancholic song, full of frustrated desire, our culture raised 3 generations and perhaps more.

The Bolero was born in Cuba,and is the result of the mixture between the Contradanza and the rhythmic patterns of African ceremonial percussion, also used for Lamentos. Structurally it is usually composed in 4/4 and has a variable in 2/4 (the Cinquillo as a rhythmic figure is syncopated) and gives the Bolero that characteristic of cadence and tenderness. In another post I will devote more time to the musical and rhythmic analysis of its origin. However, with this first installment, I intend to show you some of its exponents hoping you can take a moment to listen to it, and believing that, while your feet seek to follow the rhythm of the music you will realize that the language is only one barrier and we are made to understand ourselves beyond words, in feeling.