Organizers of the funeral of well-known Ivorian choreographer Marie-Rose Guiraud have proposed July 31 for her burial in Abidjan ahead of its confirmation by the authorities, APA can report on Monday.
According to a source close to the organizing committee for the dancer’s funeral, a meeting was requested from the Ivorian Minister of Culture and Francophonie for this purpose.
If this date is confirmed, national tributes are also planned in the last week of July in memory of the late artist at the Treichville Palace of Culture in the south of Abidjan.
Similar tributes are also planned at the EDEC Foundation located at the Riviera Palmeraie, where documentary film screenings, photo exhibits and artistic performances by troupes, such as the National Ballet and the Guirivoires are to be held.
According to the same source, several Ivorian notable of the arts and culture world, including Georges Momboye, are already in Abidjan to make their contribution to the final tribute to the “Priestess of African Dance.”
Marie-Rose Guiraud died last April in Abidjan at the age of 76 after a protracted illness.
Born in 1944 in Kouibly in the far west of Cote d’Ivoire, Marie-Rose Guiraud began her artistic career as a traditional African dancer.
She was then still a child.
LB/ls/fss/as/APA