PERSONAL DESCRIPTION

DELIA ZAPATA MOTHER OF COLOMBIAN FOLKLORE

She was a dancer, a folklorist, and a renowned teacher. She stood out as an artist an teacher or the folkloric dances of the Pacific and Atlantics coast of Colombia.

    

                

Precursor of dance in Colombia, a great exponent of Afrodescendent roots, all her life she fought to enhance and make known our roots in dance, leaving a great legacy in Colombian culture, for centuries she will be known as the sculptor of the dance, peace in his grave ...

SCULPTURE OF THE DANCE 

BEAUTIFUL SMILE

MASTER OF DANCES FOREVER

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF DELIA ZAPATA

There was a woman who danced cumbia and said that by dragging her feet she caressed the earth. It was the intention of their African ancestors. He hit his belly and exclaimed that the energy emanated from there. That was Delia Zapata Olivella, a woman who spent her life looking for contact with her black root and the stories that are told behind the movements of the body.

"She was a woman expresses with her body an unequaled feeling ".

It has a very dynamic body, more resistant and very flexible that allows it.
Interacting bodily in its various environments of a
More efficient way To love the body, to respect yours and that of others is that it also comes from dance.
His skin very soft, his smile, tender look with big eyes.

Delia had afro-descendant features:

• Of brown and dark skin.
• Big eyes with a very expressive look.
• her thin body curly black hair.
• His hands dark his fingers a little long.
• of average height one with seventy approximate.

Your own clothes for your work with students. Sweatshirt and tennis
I met her when she interviewed me at Antonio Nariño University in Bogotá.
He was a very simple person and very respectful for what he thought of music and art in the interview.

DRESCRIPTION OF HOUSE

                                                                                                                                                                           

THE PALENQUE OF DELIA

This is located in the center of Bogota, more exactly in the candelaria, very close to the plaza of the Egypt neighborhood, there we found the house of Delia Zapata, after establishing in Bogota the teacher Delia acquires the house that currently It is denominated as national heritage.

It has a very colonial structure dating from the late 19th century.

Its facade preserves the architecture of the time, large stones, adorn its main wall, doors and windows in typical wood of the colonial Its main gate retains its frame in typical plaster of the time, it has tile roof.

Its interior despite the passage of time, retains many things of the past a large central courtyard, which currently functions as a space for the practice of dance groups

On its walls there are typical decorations of Caribbean folklore, and many photos of the teacher Delia's career.

       

In the back part the house has a beautiful patio, stone floors, a small water fountain, and some wooden chairs, decorated by several plants and trees.

                                             

   It has several rooms, the main one with a bed, a large piece of furniture, preserves the floors in wood.

 

The room, has several classic chairs, a coffee table, and a large picture, a large window that overlooks the patio, roof and floor in wood.

At the moment the house was declared cultural patrimony, and is directed by the daughter and the grandsons of the teacher Delia, giving space to the diferents groups of folkloric dance of the city and the country.

HER DAILY ROUTINE IS...

She gets up at 4:00 a.m. Take a shower, dress, drink a coffee and brush your teeth. she orders her house, at 5:00 a.m., she leaves her house, walks through the old streets of la candelaria, takes a bus and goes to the Antonio Nariño university. there he receives his students with whom he shares his knowledge.

At 9:00 a.m., she takes her breakfast and continues in her classes. at noon she has lunch, attends the teachers' meeting. Then he returns to his house.

in the afternoon, she drinks coffee, talks to her daughter, watches the news, dines together and then goes to sleep.

SHE IS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL COLOMBIAN PERSON BECAUSE...

Interview with a graduate of the University Antonio Nariño and former student of Delia Zapata Olivella

HOW WAS THE EXPERIENCE OF HAVING HAD DELIA AS A TEACHER?

 A very enriching experience, because I had the opportunity to meet the teacher and the woman in essence. As a woman, she allowed us to know her tenderness, her charisma, the ability to offer constant advice and help when we needed it the most. As a teacher, the possibility of knowing the roots of our culture, our folklore centered on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Known as "yeyita" for all those who had the opportunity to share their essence as a woman and artist ... Having the opportunity to see and feel her on stage with her cumbia costume and be recognized before the world as the Mother of Colombian Folklore.

WHAT DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?

What he most admired was the ability to fight for his dreams always supported and sponsored by his brother Manuel ... They decided to take the route of the liberating route in order to learn the rhythms, traditions and representative dances ... and then fight to create a space academic as has been the faculty of Dances and Theater with the Antonio Nariño University, to disseminate their research to new generations

WHY DO YOU CONSIDER THAT HE IS A PERSON OF INFLUENCE FOR THE COLOMBIAN CULTURE?

Because from its origins it focused its attention on making life the traditional Colombian folklore, being its essence the Cumbia .... Where the percussion instruments make the vibration of the body is passion and flirting ... the movement of arms and hips is transformed into a constant vibrate ... where the steps and the figures make the cumbia a spectacle without equal.

DOES YOUR LEGACY CONTINUE?

His only daughter Edelmira Massa Olivellla, has been directly in charge of continuing with the folk dance group, which had as base of essays his house in La Candelaria ... the investigations carried out, the choreographies and montages created are part of his legacy that is keeps alive today.

Likewise ... all those who were able to share their knowledge have the duty to continue with their teachings ... because one of its pillars in the process of professional training was the fact of being MASTERS - ARTISTS ... with great skills to sensitize the new generations with the essences of Colombian folklore.

 CONCLUSION

She is the most influential Colombian person why:

• She impel cumbia in our country
• She was the founder of the Colombian folkloric ballet
• she  create the theater and dance career at the university Antonio Nariño
• As a teacher, the possibility of knowing the roots of our culture, our folklore centered on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
• His legacy continues alive

LIFE AND WORK

This video collects in a few words the life and work of Delia Zapata, her way of thinking and the message she leaves as a legacy!

YOUR TALENT

Delia Zapata began her career as an artist in the field of sculpture and drawing that alternated taking classes in ballet. As a sculptor she won her first prize in 1954 in the city of Barranquilla. That same year she had her first performance as a dancer at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá and others in the cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta and Medellín. The natural leadership she had in her region led her to perform in Chocó, in the Carnival of Cartagena with bullerengue dances, and in Buenaventura in a joint work on the Legends of the Farotos de San Jacinto.

BIOGRAPHY

She was a great dancer, folklorist and renowned teacher. He founded the dance company Ballet Folklórico Delia Zapata Olivella and on several occasions worked with the Pipers of San Jacinto. He developed an extensive work as promoter of folklore of the coasts of Colombia for audiences in our country and the world, along with his brother Manuel Zapata Olivella. Delia Zapata was an authority of the music and dances of the Caribbean and Pacifica coasts of Colombia, she carried out an impeccable research and dissemination work that turned her into an essential source of information about these cultural traditions. He taught at the National University of Colombia and at the Central University and created a career in traditional dance and theater -along with Rosario Montaña- at the Antonio Nariño University in Bogotá. When he was in Côte d'Ivoire (Africa), investigating the roots of Colombian folklore, he contracted malaria and this caused his death in 2001. taken from http://www.entrelasartes.org/secciones/familia/maestros.html