My Favorite Word

I feel inclined to fill up this blog as quick as possible to take advantage of my initial motivation to write in a blog again. So here it goes...

Duende
My Favorite Word and Why

It's a Spanish phrase pronounced like 'Dwen-day'... how cool is that word even just on it's own? It's a tad difficult to explain and like most things I find pleasure in, it's easier to experience than explain. Here are some quotes from Lorca's Theory and Play of the Duende:

The duende is not in the throat: the duende surges up, inside, from the soles of the feet.

Everything that has black sounds in it, has duende.

Wow... that's so freakin cool. If you've experienced the Duende, you can surely understand what he means by "black sounds", or more generally, the blackness or darkness of Duende. The Duende usually manifests itself in the performing arts, but can also exists in other areas such as visual arts or poetry. The closest word in english that I could think of is "Soul" (i.e. 'that jazz musician is playing with a lot of soul') which I think is still very far from Duende.

The Duende's beauty comes from it's spiritual darkness and earthiness, which can almost be described as pagan or demonic. The performer becomes possessed by the Duende much like a Vodou Priest would become possessed during a ceremony. But I wouldn't consider this "dark" in the sense of evil or harmful- rather, "dark" in the sense that it represents the inner uncertainty and struggle of the artist to his or her art, and at the same time, the artist's intense need to become swallowed by it.

And when a dancer or a musician is swallowed by the Duende, it's almost as if the performer's body and senses are in perfect alignment with the spirit of the Music (the "dark sounds"), and all fear and insecurity are completely absent. It's weird that every now and then humans have a need to be broken by whatever forces drive our universe and face their mortality and fears directly, almost out of a need to feel alive. The Duende exists for anyone willing to face it and be taken by it.

That's why Duende is my favorite word.