Morena Celarié (b. April 20, 1922 – d. April 22, 1972) was a Salvadoran folk dancer. She was born in

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

and began her dancing career at a young age. Celarié performed throughout the Western world and founded a folk dancing school in her native country. When cured of paralysis in one of her legs after a promise to the Virgin of Guadalupe, she dressed only in white until her death.

Biography

Morena Celarié was born on April 20, 1922, in the San José neighborhood of

, El Salvador. She began dancing at four years of age and found herself the student of Antonia Portillo de Galindo, a guest of María de Sellarés in Guatemala, and Luis Marné, who filmed Celarié at a farm in San Salvador, footage shown in the United States and documented by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

via article. Celarié's public performances were attended by Salvadorans like Francisco Morán and writer Edilberto Torres, who wrote that she "has done more for El Salvador than many ambassadors." On one occasion, she danced at an event hosted by César Tolentino, then ambassador of the Dominican Republic to El Salvador. Celarié obtained a scholarship to study in Mexico City at the Palacio de Bellas Artes and while still in Mexico led 300 dancers of the Junior Chamber of San Salvador in Cándido Flamenco's ''La Suaca'' from the school and into the city. In 1961, Celarié founded a dance group under her own name that had among its members Tomasa Cuestas Paz, Irma Méndez, Victoria Jovel Dueñaz, Mauricio Paredes, Vicente Aguiluz Orellana, Aquiles Amaya, Rubén Silva and José Anzoátegui. She would be placed in charge of events held by the Salvadoran Ministry of Tourism and receive honors from Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo, Domingo Antonio de Lara School in Mexico City, and the Institute of the Mexican Youth. During her career, she performed throughout Central America, in New York City, and in Bonn. In

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, she earned the nickname "Morena de Cuscatlán." When she returned to San Salvador, she founded the Folk Dance Academy and organized free presentations and shows for schools and rehabilitation centers.

Death

On the morning of her 50th birthday, Morena Celarié disappeared. She was found dead near the village of Panchimalco at the bottom of a cliff below the Puerta del Diablo mountain. Local police concluded that she had been thrown off the cliff, although her relatives said that she had been depressed after losing money on an investment that she had made to maintain her dance group. "Un enigma llamado Morena Celarié"
("An Enigma Named Morena Celarié"), by Camila Calles, in ''Revista Dominical'', ''

La Prensa Gráfica ''La Prensa Gráfica'' commonly known as ''La Prensa'' is a daily newspaper published in El Salvador by Grupo Dutriz. ''La Prensa'' is a mainstream metropolitan newspaper, and became one of the first newspapers to print in color in Central Ame ...

'' (San Salvador), September 12, 2001 (in Spanish)

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celarie, Morena 1922 births 1972 deaths Folk dancers People from San Salvador Salvadoran expatriates in Mexico