Marie Basse Wiles is a cultural icon of traditional dance,music and culture. She has been a resident and an artist in the Bedford Stuyvesant community of New York state for over 32 years. As a born Senegalese national artist, she has taught classes in New York City and across the continent for the last 36 years. Her legacy lies in 32 years of hosting the Maimouna Keita School of African Dance international dance conferences and concerts throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. Marie began her career as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Senegal in 1973. Her membership in dance, theatre and choreography lasted seven plus years. Shortly after moving to the USA, she made Brooklyn her home and began facilitating classes in the African diaspora in the city and surrounding boroughs, the United States and abroad.

Marie has trained and encouraged several renown artists with global residence to master the rich traditional artforms of West African dance and music. In addition, she has hosted annual dance tours to her country Senegal with extended tours to Mali, Gambia and Guinea. As Maimouna Keita School of African Dance embarks on this 30th anniversary milestone, we have launched a 32 | 30| 30 fundraising campaigns. Here is how you can thank Marie for her tireless service and ambassadorship to the African Diaspora. Sila Djiguiba -The Path of Hope has ensured that all students, dancers, musicians and performers under her tutelage learn from yesterday, live for today and hope for tomorrow. We thank you in advance for your donations.