Rafael Zamarripa
Rafael Zamarripa Castañeda (born February 8, 1942) is a Mexican painter, sculptor, designer, dancer and choreographer. Zamarripa's paintings, sculptures, and choreography have been called distinct and recognizable. He is considered one of Mexico's most prominent contemporary artists. Zamarripa's students have called him the father and master of folklórico dance. Early life and education Zamarripa was born in 1942 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, to Francisco ‘Don Panchito’ Zamarripa, a shoemaker, and Maria de Luz Castañeda, who loved to play the piano. He has described them as ‘strict, but loving parents.’ His family, including his six other siblings, was poor, but always had food and clothing. Zamarripa discovered his interest and talent in art at an early age; as a child he was amazed by puppets and he eventually started making his own. He used sticks, paper, and cardboard to make the puppets and he dressed them with fabric. At the age of eight his parents sent him to work with a santero (sculptor of religious wooden figures). Here, he started practicing his sculpting skills. Around this time Zamarripa would also help his father sell shoes downtown. On his way downtown, he would pass Teatro Degollado, which intrigued him. Returning from downtown, he would linger at the building to play with the stage crew's children. He enrolled in the school at age fourteen. The school's music department offered a Mexican folk dance class in the summer, composed primarily of female students who were in need of male dance partners. Zamarripa, along with other students from the art department, joined and he began dancing there with no formal training. When summer classes ended, the dance students wanted to continue dancing on their own, so they formed a local student group that met every Saturday. They practiced regional folk dances, traditional jarabes, and sones, taught to them by María del Refugio García Brambila and Francisco Sanchez Flores. After completing a degree in art and education in Mexico, Zamarripa took advanced art courses in Italy, New Zealand, and Australia. Career At the age of 18, Zamarripa was hired to sculpt The Boy on the Seahorse, which has become one of the official symbols of the city of Puerto Vallarta. In 1962, Zamarripa was approached by Amalia Hernández, (who developed folkloric dance for theater, and founded Ballet Folklórico de México), after watching him dance with his student group. She invited him to join her company, but he declined because of his ambitions of pursuing a career as a sculptor. She encouraged him to reconsider, and told him it could help his art career. Soon after, he joined the Ballet on a trip to Europe, where they placed first at the Festival of Nations in Paris. Upon returning, he started to formalize the dance group, employing the new techniques he learned with Hernández. The group was invited to join a prestigious dance competition, entering as El Grupo de Danza Regional de la Escuela de Artes Plásticas. They brought Zamarripa with them to teach them how to perform