Richard Cragun receives a final “Bravo!” as he’s laid to rest in Rio

Richard Cra­gun’s funeral was held yes­ter­day in Rio De Janeiro, two days after the dancer’s death on Monday. His friend Peter Ros­en­wald was there:

Richard was a close and excep­tional friend of mine and of so many oth­ers. That he was one of the great dan­cers of our time needs no com­ment. But his human­ity, his end­less kind­ness, his unwill­ing­ness to adopt the van­it­ies of ‘star­dom’ when he was very much a star, make him exceptional.

The most mov­ing moment at yesterday’s crema­tion cere­mony in Rio came when the flower covered coffin began to move away and Richards friends and admirers, led by Mar­cia Hay­dee, stood, applauded and cried out “Bravo” as they had so many times at the end of his mag­ni­fi­cent per­form­ances. It was a spon­tan­eous and appro­pri­ate ova­tion and send-off. Richard deserved no less.

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