After her children announced the death of Totó La Momposina on Tuesday, several moments from the Colombian artist’s life have been remembered, highlighting her importance in Colombia’s cultural history.
One of these moments occurred on December 10, 1982. On that day, in the Stockholm Concert Hall, Gabriel García Márquez became the first Colombian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Months before receiving the golden award, the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude had expressed his desire to experience that moment amidst “cumbias and vallenatos.” These rhythms, typical of the Colombian Caribbean, were present at the reception following the award ceremony, performed by Sonia Bazanta Vides, known as Totó La Momposina.
The singer from Tailagua, Bolívar, was part of the delegation that flew with Gabriel García Márquez to Sweden to perform for Swedish royalty, writers, and academics from around the world, offering them a taste of Colombian folklore.
The friendship between the writer and the coastal singer had begun several years earlier in Barranquilla through the mediation of journalist Carlos Emilio Manjarrez, as reported by El Espectador. “Jocular” and “a great dancer” were the words Totó used to describe Gabo in an interview with that same newspaper, and it was this shared love for Colombian music that led her to travel the world to sing and dance in Stockholm.
Following the request made by the author of cumbias and vallenatos to celebrate his Nobel Prize, Colcultura—the government agency that at the time served as the Ministry of Culture—assembled a group of artists to accompany García Márquez.
Luis Quinitiva, a singer of llanera music; the dancer Carlos Franco; The Caldas folk group, Danzas del Ingrumá, and Leonor González Mina, known as “La Negra Grande de Colombia” (The Great Black Woman of Colombia), were just some of the 65 musicians and dancers who were part of the entourage.
“Before I knew I was going to accompany him, I had already dreamed about that moment many times. Dreams are premonitions; it’s another thing entirely whether people take this matter seriously. In my dream, I was levitating in a palace, dancing in a white dress while singing and dancing. That was the dress I wore to accompany Gabriel García Márquez to receive the award. I sang Soledad, a cumbia I had been singing for years. I feel I was meant to be there,” Totó told the Spanish media outlet El Ibérico in an interview in April 2017.
That dream come true was immortalized in a photograph in which the singer appears with her arms raised and her white skirt, while García Márquez, also dancing, follows her lead.
