Perfecting the Latino Upnod Duende

You know the upnod: the quick up-tic motion where nothing but your head moves in a gesture that says – ‘sup.

Latinos have the ability to upnod at birth, but it doesn’t manifest until maybe the second grade. Once manifested it becomes the object of diligent perfection. My upnod is much more expressive and filled with meaning and nuance at 50 than it was at 12, 20 or 40. I’ve earned the right to upnod con duende.

Duende. Federico Garcia Lorca called our attention to it decades ago:

“Thus duende is a power and not a behavior, it is a struggle and not a concept. I have heard an old master guitarist say: ‘Duende is not in the throat; duende surges up from the soles of the feet.’ Which means it is not a matter of ability, but of real live form; of blood; of ancient culture; of creative action.”

At 90 there is more Duende in my father raising his eyebrows than there is in a thirty or forty-something lawyer arguing a case in cowboy boots and an expensive suit. I’m not there yet.

I’ve worked on my upnod through the decades; not knowingly, but as a matter of repetition. I noticed that I did it much more often when I was younger; I’m beginning to understand that there is a deference among Latinos where the young initiate the upnod and the old(er) Latinos respond, as an acknowledgement. Each nod is unique, I imagine our vivencias give our nods their special quirks. The speed of the nod varies depending on the mood or the road traveled; a slow and confident upnod can tell incredible stories. A tilt of the head is more stylistic than ingrained; one raised eyebrow while upnodding can be aggressive questioning; two raised eyebrows and a smile is open acceptance, even joy.

It’s not a simple thing to pick up the nuance, but it’s almost universal. A single nod can have the power of a signed covenant or be the catalyst of an epic battle – I’ve seen it happen.

I don’t have the same nod that I did ten years ago, and I imagine that my nod ten years from now till be different than it is now. But it’ll be understood, because just as we’re born with the ability to upnod we come with the intelligence to interpret the many nods that we’ll see throughout our lives. It’s a part of our DNA – the upnod gene. Think of it as a vessel or a container that we fill with the things we do and don’t; with what we witness; with the things we get right and the things we mess up. After you’ve done enough of that your upnod lives with the ghost of the Duende.

You can’t rush it, though. It responds to its own time.