Imilla Skate: skateboarding & pollera. An encounter with Deysi Tacuri Lopez, one of the collective's cofounders.

Blogoculaire
6 days ago
6 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Intro:

I discovered the Imilla Skate collective in Cochabamba after discovering the cholitas luchadoras in El Alto. This is a second example of the empowerment of Bolivian cholita women, who are tackling a sport traditionally the preserve of men.

I was immediately struck by these stylish skaters, with their modern cholita outfits (skirts, blouses, braids, hats), pretty legs and Vans on their feet, a mix of tradition and modernity. in a country that is historically so macho and conservative.

I contacted the collective and was lucky enough to meet one of the cofounders and active members, Deysi Tacuri, during my visit to Cochabamba (Cocha to locals, Bolivia's fourth largest city, supposedly the city of eternal spring located in the Bolivian Andes) in March 2025. A quick weather aside: I say ‘supposedly’ because it was one of the cities where I experienced the most rain during my entire trip, with torrential downpours almost every day... OK, it was the rainy season, but even the locals had never seen so much rain!)

We chatted over a coffee at the famous Typica (a chain of cosy Bolivian cafés, always located in pretty colonial houses, very popular with French travellers in Bolivia), then we took her scooter (without helmets, of course, this is South America, after all) and she took me first to the Plaza Granado and then to the Ollantay skatepark for a photo shoot.

The photos below and this article are the result of my encounter with Deysi and some further research I did on the subject.

Who are the cholitas and how has their place in Bolivian society evolved?

To avoid repeating myself word for word, as the subject has already been covered in one of my previous articles, I invite you to read the second and third paragraphs of my article on cholitas luchadoras,

To complete the picture, Deysi also explains to me that it was under the mandate of former president Evo Morales that the Plurinational State of Bolivia was founded, thus recognising 36 indigenous peoples in the Constitution and guaranteeing them (in theory, at least!) respect and protection of their rights. This has led to a notable improvement in the situation of cholitas in Bolivian society. Give credit where credit is due.

And despite the numerous allegations of corruption and sexual abuse that seem more than likely, and which Deysi also regrets.

Origin of the word Imilla

‘Imilla’ is a term known to all Bolivians, meaning “little girl, young girl” in Quechua(one language still widely spoken in Bolivia, by far the most widely spoken of the 36 indigenous languages existing in Bolivia together with the aymara).

Once pejorative, the term is gradually becoming a symbol of strength and resilience as young girls embrace their indigenous origins.

(Fun Fact): origins of skateboarding

Skateboarding was born in the 1950s in California, United States, when surfers, looking for something to do when the waves were flat, attached roller skates to their boards.

Imilla Skate: the link between skateboarding and cholitas

Imilla Skate is a collective of eight Bolivian female skateboarders founded in 2019 that is boldly and proudly redefining skateboarding and the indigenous Bolivian cholita identity.

Eight young women, all descendants of cholitas (through their mothers or grandmothers, whether of Quechua or Aymara origin), share a passion for skateboarding and a common determination: to contribute to the empowerment of working-class girls through the collective practice of skateboarding and the teaching of its values, while celebrating their indigenous roots.

In skateboarding, you fall, but you get back up and keep going. ‘That's what our mothers and grandmothers have always done,’ says Deysi.

Skateboarding and cholitas share many values, such as resilience, courage, tenacity and the importance of community.

But beware of counterfeits or the risk of falling into a staged performance: ‘Our grandmothers and mothers wear the pollera because it is their identity and they are proud to be themselves.’ explains Deysi Tacuri Lopez.

Highlights since the collective's creation in 2019

It was officially on 7 April 2019, one of the pedestrian days (Día del Peatón) in Cochabamba, that the collective was born during a skateboarding workshop with a ramp organised in Plaza Colon in Cochabamba, with the desire to come together as a collective rather than continue skating individually.

Then, a few months later, on 14 September 2019, during the Cochabamba festival, a video of Imilla Skate went viral on social media. The skaters, dressed for the first time in pollera skirts, blouses and Cochabamba chola hats (a tall white hat with a black ribbon typical of the city's cholitas and classified as Cultural Heritage), took to the streets and skateparks with fascinating ease. They immediately went viral.

The video has been viewed 20 000 of times and their followers are growing on various social media platforms (they currently have almost 130k followers on Instagram, for example).

A few days later, on 19 September 2019, the Ollantay skatepark was inaugurated in the Villa Coronilla neighbourhood, alongside a contemporary art space (the MARTadero project, a play on words referring to the site's former use as a slaughterhouse). It is now a benchmark for the entire urban culture scene, from hip hop to skateboarding and parkour.

After making its Olympic debut at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, skateboarding was one of five sports to be added to the Olympic programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in... July 2021 (postponed due to Covid). There were competitions in street and park disciplines, with separate events for women and men. This gave the sport global visibility and led to a wave of new associations (and vocations).

In 2023, National Geographic featured a story on the collective.

In 2025, Vans & Documentary Plus collaborated with them and produced a documentary short movie about them, initially to mark Women's Day (Dia de la Mujer), published last 30th june 25 and which can be seen on Nowness

Numerous trips...

Despite her young age, Deysi has already won several national and regional championships. She has also competed in several international skateboarding championships, allowing her to travel to Chile and Peru. More than just competition, it is above all an opportunity for her to meet other female skateboarders from other countries.

What is Deysi most proud of recently? In July 2024, the collective was invited to Washington for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a festival dedicated to traditional indigenous and folk cultures from around the world, held in the US capital.

There, they met Di'orr Greenwood, a Navajo skateboarder and artist, and Manny Santiago, a Puerto Rican champion committed to promoting skateboarding. ‘We realised that we were part of a global movement: revaluing our cultures and resisting the standardisation of globalisation,’ says Deysi.

Another source of pride are the brands that have shown interest in the Imilla Skate project and with which they collaborate (Samsung, Pepsi, Vans).

They are also regularly invited to participate in programmes and interviews with media outlets from around the world. The day I met Deysi, for example, she had an interview with a national TV channel a few hours later!

The actions of the Imilla Skate collective

Imilla Skate regularly organises workshops with associations working with highly vulnerable children and victims of violence, such as:

- at the Martina / San Rafael shelter, an association helping children and single parents by providing them with assistance, food, financial support, educational support – and skate lessons thanks to boards donated by several brands, with participants aged 6 to 18

- At Indigo del Sol, an association that offers educational support

- in schools, institutions, ferias, etc.

Unfortunately, as they do not yet have their own 100% secure venue, these workshops are only held on an ad hoc basis, and some parents are wary and do not entrust their children to them.

The workshops have several objectives:

- raising awareness among young participants about their origins and the values of their ancestors, making them proud to be descendants of cholitas (who are sometimes considered shameful for having mothers or grandmothers who wear polleras, speak another language, etc.)

- teaching skateboarding, learning how to get on the board and skate (progressively, and taking care not to fall too hard so that they do not develop a psychological block)

- Pass on the values of skateboarding so that young girls can apply them in their daily lives (tenacity, resilience, community/brotherhood, etc.) as a philosophy of life, an escape when life is hard.

Deysi's and Imilla skate's collective dream: to open a community centre

After completing the first stage in 2022 with the opening of the Ollantay skatepark on the outskirts of Cochabamba (the city's first skatepark), Deysi and her mates dream of going even further and of the collective having its own space, a community centre with a skatepark where vulnerable children and young people can learn to skate safely.

The centre would also host cultural workshops, psychological support workshops and any other activities that could help young girls, drawing on the varied backgrounds and professions of the members of Imilla Skate (psychologist, physiotherapist, sociologist, designer, etc.).

There are a few potential locations in the municipality, but unfortunately they are still very hypothetical at this stage.

So, next time you're in Cochabamba, don't forget to check out Ollantay Skatepark and hopefully meet the girls from the Imilla Skate collective.