1902, October 1 – PREMIERE OF “CANILLITA”
Play – little did its author, Florencio Sanchez, dream that this simple, one-act, three scene play about a newspaper boy would, over time, become the inspiration of tangos, films, comedys not only in Argentina but beyond…Sanchez was born on January 17th, 1875 (Capricorn) in Montevideo, Uruguay into a struggling family…he began to work as a journalist at the age of 16 but he dreamed of being a playwrite…an incredulous Sanchez saw his spontaneously penned inspiration become an immediate hit with the critics and the public
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The main character is a boy who sells newspapers…Sanchez was inspired by the ubiquitous newspaper boys whose long, thin legs reminded him of a “Canillita” (the word refers to the long bones in the extremities) ……with his new-found wealth he could finally marry his one and only sweetheart and take a dream tour of Europe…but he had struggled with tuberculosis and he finally succumbed to it on
November 7, 1910 at the age of 35 in Milan, Italy…the date is officially commemorated as “El Dia Del Canillita”
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- CLICK HERE – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XzmVPQDW90 to hear Astor Piazzolla’s version “Preludio Para un Canillita”, recorded in 1970, with the voice of Amelita Baltar
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