Rafael Manzanares Aguilar

Rafael Manzanares Aguilar (July 17, 1918 – August 28, 1999) was educated in law, and a professor and Honduran folklorist, an author and a musical composer. Rafael Manzanares was one of the pioneers in highlighting folklore, culture and national history of Honduras as the creator of the National Folklore Office and the Cuadro Nacional de Danzas Folklóricas de Honduras.

Childhood and education

Rafael Manzanares was born on July 17, 1918, in La Esperanza, Intibucá, the son of Mr. Santiago Manzanares and Mrs. Maria de los Angeles Aguilar. He spent his early life in La Esperanza and graduated from the Escuela Normal de Occidente in La Esperanza with a degree in primary education. He then moved to Tegucigalpa to continue his studies at the Central University, from which he obtained a degree in law at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras.

Career

Rafael Manzanares began his professional career in the 1940s as a teacher and marimba player with the Orquesta Tropical de Antonio Medina (Antonio Medina's Tropical Orchestra). Rafael Manzanares was initially appointed as secretary of the board of the Central District. He subsequently became director general of Culture and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Honduras. In this position, Manzanares Aguilar studied music and committed himself to investigate the origins of Honduran music and dance. His investigations took him to numerous regions of Honduras, visiting Honduran communities to study and record traditional music, dance, and customs in the towns and villages of Honduras. This work earned him recognition from the government and provided inspiration for founding the institutions that are today paramount in Honduran folklore.

Rafael Manzanares founded and was the first director of the National Office of Folklore under the Ministry of Public Education. In this capacity he is credited with founding the national dance company, El Cuadro Nacional de Danzas Folklóricas de Honduras on November 1, 1956. He was the first director and choreographer of the new dance company. At present El Cuadro Nacional de Danzas Folklóricas de Honduras is composed of about 11 employees in the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sport (SCAD), and from them its influence spreads over 500 groups in different regions with more than 1,000 instructors nationwide who work to preserve the cultural roots of Honduras. This initiative now includes 50 schools in the capital and more than 700 in the entire country. Many of his romantic titles have been recorded and disseminated throughout Central America. inspired by flying and walking characteristics of the buzzard, commonly seen in Honduras. This dance was compiled by Professor Manzanares in the city of Yuscarán, department of El Paraiso, and it was choreographed and initially interpreted by the Cuadro Nacional de Danzas Folklóricas.

In 1997 Rafael Manzanares was the Liberal Party mayoral candidate for Tegucigalpa, in an election that he lost to the National Party Candidate, Doctor Cesar Castellanos Madrid. In 1998, during the presidential administration of Carlos Roberto Flores, he was appointed minister of the Secretary of State for Culture, Arts and Sports.

Published works

"Conozca a Honduras" (Instructional songbook authored and composed by Rafael Manzanares) "Por las sendas del folklore" "Fulgores de Nacionalidad" "Desarrollo de la música en Honduras" "El Folclore Hondureño" (Published by the Organization of American States O.A.E.) "El folklore en Honduras: Concepto"

Collected dances Rafael Manzanares in his ethnographic field work documented many different traditional dances from villages and towns of Honduras. Included among these are the following dances archived by the National Office of Folklore of Honduras (Oficina del Folklore Nacional de Honduras):

Dance Category Region Sample El Barreño Creole Lodo Colorado, Santa Rosa de Copán, Copán * Arte UNAH Los Caballitos Creole Imitation Yoro, Yoro * Ballet Folklórico de Honduras Oro Lenca La Cadena Indigenous Olanchito, Yoro * El IJAP en Ia Villa Olimpica* Las Lajas (2012) El Callado Colonial San Francisco, San Marcos de Colon, Choluteca * Grupo Folklórico Gualala, Encuentro Folklórico Zope Rey La Correa Creole Cacaurtare, municipio de Pespire, Choluteca * Azacualpa Danza La Correa* Instituto San José, Progresso La Coyota Creole Imitation La Esperanza, Intibucá Las Escobas Indigenous Santa María, La Paz * Ballet Folklorico Sampedrano Sectur* Grupo Folklórico Lentercala El Guapango Chorotega Creole Linaca, Choluteca * Ballet Folklórico de Honduras Oro Lenca (2017)* Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (2014) El Jarabe Yoreño Colonial Victoria, Yoro * Leon Alvarado (2012) El Jutiquile Creole Jutikile, Olancho, Olancho * Danzas Folkloricas ARTE-UNAH Mazurka Colonial Tegucigalpa * Instituto Católico San Jose de El Progreso, Yoro* Instituto Técnico Federico C. Canales El Pereke Colonial Santa Teresa, El Triunfo, Choluteca * Grupo Jade* IJAP Egresados (2014) El Revuelto Creole Linaca, Choluteca * Grupo Folklorico Azacualpa Sos un Ángel Indigenous Olanchito, Yoro * Sos un Ángel* Centro Escolar Alberto Masferrer El Sueñito Indigenous Cacautare, Pespire, Choluteca * Ballet Folklórico de Honduras Oro Lenca (2014)* Grupo de Proyeccioón Folklórica Zorzales de Sula con Marimba Usula Internacional El Torito Pinto Creole Imitation La Esperanza, Intibucá; Alianza, Valle * UNAH La Tusa Indigenous Cantarranas (now San Juan de Flores), Francisco Morazán * El Grande de Grandes (2015) El Xixique Indigenous Cacautare, Municipio de Pespire, Choluteca * El Instituto Doctora Jesus Aquilar Paz (2016) El Zapateado (Dance of the Machetes) Creole San Martín, Choluteca * Festival Regional Zona Norte* Competencia Nacional* Inst. Perla del Ulúa, Progresso El Zopilote Creole Imitation Yuscarán, El Paraíso. * instituto Leon Alvarado de Comayagua (2010)* El Zopilote

Awards and recognition

The following are some of the many awards and recognitions bestowed on Rafael Manzanares Aguilar.