Carmen Estrada Contento 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Carmen Estrada Contento (nee Maria de Carmen Estrada Aceituno) died on September 25, 2021 at home in Saratoga Springs with her devoted husband Ed at her side. Carmen was born October 15, 1936 in Palin, Guatemala. The only girl among three brothers, she grew up caring for others.

She came to the US in her twenties to work as an au pair to the family of a professor at Purdue University in Indiana. Then she went to New York City to work in the fashion industry as a hatter, dress designer, and Jill of all trades. Carmen studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology but was unable to graduate due to lack of funds. Sewing continued to be a way to express her delight in colors and fabrics both for herself and for others.

Carmen began her dance studies in Guatemala and continued in NYC. She studied all forms of dance: ballet, tango, belly, flamenco, but mostly folk dances of Central and South America, the Middle East, Spain, Africa and India. At one point she studied with Alicia Alonso, the prima ballerina from Cuba.

Carmen loved dancing and worked in all kinds of venues. She worked for the NYC school system during Mayor John Lindsay’s administration in the 1960s, teaching both dance and Latin culture. She even performed in a few NYC nightclubs. Eventually she became a naturalized US Citizen. Carmen performed with her husband at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, Crandall Library, and Ballston Spa High School, and they had a year-long exhibit at the National Museum of Dance: Dance Culture of Guatemala.

Carmen was a multi-talented person in dance, textile, cooking, and loving her fellow humans. She was a selfless person who would give a stranger shelter, food, clothing, and Christian love, never thinking of her own needs. Her powerful Christian faith was both strength and solace for her. Chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah was her favorite.

Travel with her husband to Europe, China and Central America filled vacations, but Carmen and Ed particularly enjoyed visiting her family in Guatemala. She even smuggled Bibles into China when they were forbidden.

Carmen will be painfully missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her husband, Edward Contento; a brother, Carlos Aceituno, as well as many nephews and nieces in Guatemala; nephews and nieces in the States; and several god-children. Please do not send flowers to mourn her. Celebrate her life! If you wish, please donate in Carmen’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Online remembrances may be made at burkefuneralhome.com