Clyde Alafiju Morgan

Clyde Alafiju Morgan, associate professor and artistic director of Sankofa, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, received his early theater and dance training at the Karamu House Theater and is a graduate of Cleveland State University. After two years of graduate work in dance at Bennington College, he made his professional debut with the José Limon Dance company. His professional studies in New York include work at the Merce Cunningham, New Dance Group, Robert Joffrey, Paul Sanasardo, and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Studios. He has appeared as a soloist in the companies of Babatunde Olatunji, Sophie Maslow, Daniel Nagrin, Louis Falco, Pearl Lang and Anna Sokolow. With his own New York duo (Clyde Morgan and Carla Maxwell) he toured West and East Africa performing and conducting research in African music and dance. After completing years of service on the New York stage, he began the second phase of his career in Brazil where he held the position of Choreographer and Artistic Director of the Grupo de Danca Contemporanea da Universidade Federal Da Bahia in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He then taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where he co-founded with Claudia Melrose, Melrose and Morgan in Concert. A Leader and Specialist Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of State and a Fulbright Professorship allowed Morgan to continue international teaching and performing in Haiti, Brazil, and West Africa from1984-86.

He now holds the position of Associate Professor of African Dance and serves as the artistic director of the Sankofa African Dance and Drum Ensemble at SUNY College at Brockport, and he is the College Senate representative of the Department of Dance. In 1993, Associate Professor Morgan was the first artist to be selected as Young Audience Inc. "Artist of the Year" and he has been affiliated with their chapters nationwide. On successive occasions, he has been indicated as one of "SUNY's Best" in the recruitment initiative of SUNY Central in New York City.

In the effort to strengthen the College's institutional linkages with other NY state entities, he has presented the Sankofa African Dance and Drum Ensemble at a variety of cultural venues on the campuses of the University of Buffalo, University of Rochester, St. John Fisher College, SUNY Cortland, Princeton University and The University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Sankofa has evolved into the flagship of international relations and interactions on the college campus, at conferences, festivals and ceremonies not only because of its roster of national and international contributing artists and students but also in terms of its outreach initiatives.

Morgan's national affiliations include board membership on the Dance Brazil Co. Inc.; The Fulbright Alumni Association; Visiting Artist at the Federal University of Bahia and Cultural Foundation of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. In addition to participation as a judge, advisor and adjudicator for the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) in Florida, Associate Professor Morgan has an on-going commitment to the Florida International University (FIU) and International Dance and Music Institute (INDAMI) in their promotion of cultural relations with our American neighbors in the Caribbean and in South America.