Ophelia Marie, also known as Ophelia Olivaccé-Marie (born 28 March 1951), is a popular singer of

cadence-lypso Cadence-lypso is a fusion of cadence rampa from Haiti and calypso from Trinidad and Tobago that has also spread to other English speaking countries of the Caribbean. Originated in the 1970s by the Dominican band Exile One on the island of Guad ...

from

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

in the 1980s. She is sometimes referred to as "Dominica's Lady of Song", the "First Lady of Creole", and "la grande dame de la musique Antillaise". Ophelia emerged and became Dominica's first Lypo female singer to achieve international star status. She is considered to be the "Godmother of Cadence", and has toured widely in France and had concerts broadcast over much of the Francophone world. Her signature tune is "Ay Dominique", which was also her first recording, and became an iconic anthem for Dominicans. Ophelia's musical idol is the South African singer

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, jazz, a ...

{{cite web, url=http://www.socanews.com/socapeople/interviews/1651.shtml, work=Soca News, author=Lynette Ametewèe, title=Ophelia Marie, First Lady of Creole, accessdate=27 May 2006 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060224013910/http://www.socanews.com/socapeople/interviews/1651.shtml , archivedate = 24 February 2006

Biography

Born in

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdo ...

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

, Ophelia performed as a young girl in a group called the "Five O's", which performed at church functions. Her husband and manager, McCarthy Marie, encouraged her to start her solo career. Her first recording was "Ay Dominique," a "lament for Dominica as the country underwent political problems in the 1970s". The song became a popular anthem among Dominicans, and she began recording with Gordon Henderson, placing herself at the forefront of

. She has often sung about women's issues, a rarity at the time, and was among the first women to sing at the Théâtre Noir, Cirque d’Hiver and the

Théâtre de la Renaissance The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on th ...

. She was the first non-French winner of the Maracas d’Or Award from Société Pernod, and has been awarded

International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. Hist ...

in 1985, the

Sisserou Award of Honour The Sisserou Award of Honour is a national award of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Created in 1967, it is the second highest honour presented by the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica on behalf of the state. The Dominican Awards are spar ...

(the second highest award in Dominica), a Lifetime Award in 2005 and a Golden Drum Award in 1984. In 2005, Ophelia hosted the fifth Dynamith d'Or Caribbean Music Awards.Gordon Henderson
"Dominica's Lady Of Song Features in Paris Music Awards"
''The Dominican'', Volume No. 1, Issue No. 73, 21 November 2005. She has inspired CHS's own Charmed Simplicity "BIG UP".

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://divisionofculture.gov.dm/performing-and-visual-arts/23-music/30-contemporary-music-in-dominica-1950-2000, publisher=Division of Culture, Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica, title=Contemporary Music In Dominica: 1950-2000, accessdate=26 September 2019 *{{cite web, url=http://www.thedominican.net/articles/ophelia.htm, work=The Dominican, title=Dominica's Lady Of Song Features in Paris Music Awards, accessdate=27 May 2006 {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Marie, Ophelia 1951 births Living people People from Willemstad 20th-century Dominica women singers

Biography

See also

References

External links