Sankofa receives award from Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester

Sankofa African Dance and Drum Ensemble was awarded the Special Recognition Award from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester Thursday, Nov. 17, which the artistic director of Sankofa, Clyde Alafiju Morgan,  said he is honored to win.

Morgan said he transformed the ensemble into what it is today: Sankofa, which means "the past, the present and the future."

When Morgan joined the College at Brockport 25 years ago, there was an African dance club run under Brockport Student Government (BSG), but he worked hard during his first few years to break away from only a club and create Sankofa.

Sankofa is an African dance and drum ensemble, guided by Morgan and musical director Khalid Abdul N'Fally Saleem. It's a three-credit course offered by the dance department and any student attending Brockport can join the class.

Sankofa does a performance for campus and community members at the end of each spring semester.

"The idea of Sankofa is we're looking toward the past for those things that will give vitality and meaning to things in the present," Morgan said.

Before working at Brockport, Morgan taught African dance at the University of Wisconsin and studied dance in Brazil for many years. Having this background in another country gave him the ability to bring different perspectives into Sankofa.

He also invited other students who knew different kinds of dances from around the world to join his rehearsals and share their knowledge of dance.

"I started to build a larger repertoire than just one style of African dance," Morgan said. "Sankofa then included dances from all African origins like from the Caribbean, South America and Central America."

He said the dance department also helped bring more African dance to the college by bringing traditional African dancers here from Africa and bringing many guest artists to Brockport who have a background in African dance.

"This year we're inviting a guest artist from Ohio University to Brockport whose specialty is in Ghanaian dance," Morgan said. "Her name is Zelma Badu-Younge and she is just spectacular."

Morgan also said he has sent students to Africa to study abroad at the University of Ghana, the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and schools in Brazil. He said Brockport's study abroad programs have created a "cultural crossover" because students learn about the culture firsthand in addition to learning about the culture while at Brockport.

"Many of the modern dancers here on campus took interest in African dance who hadn't before," Morgan said. "That's why when you come to a Sankofa concert, 90 percent of the people will be white people. It isn't that you have to be born to do it or be black to do it, everyone can. That's one thing we've proven and one thing that has made it a success."

Sankofa performed at the 28th Annual Arts Awards Nov. 17 when the ensemble accepted the award from the Arts & Cultural Council.  Morgan said each spring, the Sankofa concert at Brockport performs to a full audience of students, faculty, staff and community members.

"The amount of administrative, departmental and community support that has been there is something that I recognize and I hold essential in having come this far," Morgan said.