These songs were typically sung from a man’s perspective ( a straight man’s, I should say) and Chavela Vargas refused to change the genders in the songs when she sang them. In her thirties, she became a professional, becoming known for her own unique take on ranchera - singing solo, with only her guitar as accompaniment instead of a mariachi band, and slowing down the tempo for more dramatic tension or so they could come across as more humorous and, y’know, suggestive. (And yet, there are - of course - scholars who are certain they were just good friends.) And Frida expressed in letters to her friends that she was very attracted to Chavela. Chavela even lived with Frida and her then-husband Diego Rivera for more than a year. During this period of her career, sometime in the mid-1940s, she had an affair with Frida Kahlo - the romance was relatively brief, but intense. To fit into the masculine music scene she was attempting to break into, she began smoking cigars, drinking heavily, and making sure to keep a gun on her at all times. The look was a conscious decision - Chavela felt she looked “like a transvestite” in women’s clothing and had trouble walking in heels. Initially, she sang on the streets - dressed in traditionally masculine clothing, wearing the red poncho (or more specifically a jorongo) that would become a signature part of her performance “look” in her professional years. Chavela managed to survive the illness relatively unscathed - she and her family credited this to the rituals and talismans of shamans and witches, rather than the scientific medicine of doctors.īy seventeen years old, Chavela was fully aware that she wanted a career in music and - since there weren’t many musical opportunities in Costa Rica - she moved to Mexico. They ultimately divorced, leaving her to be raised by her uncle, and then she contracted polio. Despite that affectionate nickname, things would take a turn for the worse - her very religious parents were embarrassed by Chavela’s tomboy-ishness, going so far as to hide her when they had visitors to their home. She was frequently called “ Chavela” by her family. As far as I can tell, it was a pretty unremarkable event. Isabel Vargas Lizano was born on Apto Francisco Vargas and Herminia Lizano in San Joaquin de Flores, Costa Rica. She knew exactly who she was from a remarkably young age and never wavered. Today’s post comes to you by popular demand - which makes sense because she was very popular, and she also knew what she wanted and demanded it! Well, okay, mostly she just got it herself.
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