In Loving Memory
Marianne Harkless Diabate
1958 - 2021
Benkadi lost our co-founder, our dance director, and the better part of our hearts suddenly on May 12, 2021, when we lost Marianne Harkless Diabate to complications from treatment for lymphoma. Her optimism couldn’t prevent that blow, but it still lights our way.
Marianne was an educator, a visionary, and a dancer. It was her belief that anyone can dance, and everyone should! She believed “that moving to rhythm integrates mind, body, and spirit and keeps us centered. Every culture has rhythm and dance. It is an essential part of human existence.”
She inspired us with her integrity, her readiness to get her hands dirty, (her mac-and-cheese!), and especially with her belief in the possibilities within each of us individually and as a community. We’ll have to help each other find all of that in ourselves.
Marianne was an educator, a visionary, and a dancer. It was her belief that anyone can dance, and everyone should! She believed “that moving to rhythm integrates mind, body, and spirit and keeps us centered. Every culture has rhythm and dance. It is an essential part of human existence.”
She inspired us with her integrity, her readiness to get her hands dirty, (her mac-and-cheese!), and especially with her belief in the possibilities within each of us individually and as a community. We’ll have to help each other find all of that in ourselves.
