BALLET FOLKLORIQUE DE BOLIVIE « MANUEL ACOSTA »
Country of the Aymara Indians, province of the Inca empire, Bolivia became a Spanish colony after the conquest of PIZARRO and gained its independence in 1825.
Its geography is organized on parallel lines from east to west, the first being volcanic and dominated by high peaks. It is succeeded by a massive high plateau, known as the Altiplano, where there are some islets, either of salt or of arable land, and in which Lake Titicaca lies. considered as the birthplace of the Bolivian people and the one where an extraordinary pantheon of protective gods of the Aymara populations was born. The last part of this complex geography is the so-called Llanos, with a hot and humid climate that descends to the foot of the Amazon and melts there. It is also the only country in South America that has no access to the sea.
The whole forms a stunning assemblage of forests, eternal snows, volcanoes and salt deserts. Lands of fire and water towers where the Indian man has cultivated terraces in high altitude and the white man built the most vertiginous railways in the world.
Christianized by the missionaries, the Andean Indians were able to graft on the Catholic cult rites that respond to their deep beliefs and express their desire for independence. In some villages of Bolivia, on the occasion of the feast of God, men adorn themselves with the plumage of the condor and thus appropriate its mythical strength. In the Indian communities, "Pachamama," mother earth, is considered a living being to whom it is necessary to give gifts in order to win her good graces. Bolivians are naturally hospitable and despite the difficulties of life in this part of the world, they are all ready to stretch their arms and welcome those who come to them to share soups, teas and bouillons or even a popular festival.
In terms of musical culture, the armadillo’s shell has become a musical instrument, the flutes are running out of steam at mishaps, and the drums beat funnily. Sentimental, modest or demanding, the songs chronicle men. They try to give shape to their destiny. As for the dances, they offer a double show. A violence that reflects the still harsh living conditions of a population caught between the Catholic faith inherited from the Spaniards and the multiple recourse to saints passing through, and a gentleness that emphasizes that nothing is hopeless, that poetry can survive, that love is a source of comfort for the dancers and musicians of Bolivia.
And in the night that turns purple with the sunset, the "diablada" will continue to play its music, testimonies of a people whose origin is lost in the mists of time. Here is a people carried by the wings of a king bird. Here are the sons of the wind and the children of the sun.
This is the Bolivian Folkloric Ballet "Manuel ACOSTA".
