Dorothy Gordon Wilkie
Director Dorothy Wilkie has danced professionally for 40+ years. Early on, she was drawn to African dance and imagined herself an African dancer. By her early teens, she was studying with local dancers and drummers in the vanguard of reclaiming African and Diaspora music and culture in Philadelphia. In the 1970s, she began dancing with Kulu Mele, working closely with founder Robert Crowder and her creative and life partner, John Wilkie. Eventually, she took on the roles of choreographer and Artistic Director for Kulu Mele, and has led the company in these capacities for more than thirty years. Ms. Wilkie has pursued serious study of Afro-Cuban and West African dance, developing repertoire and approach through intensive and long-running work with artists including Baba Ishangi, Arthur Hall, Assan Konte, M'Bemba Bangoura, Marie Basse, Eartha Kitt, Moustapha Bangoura, Assane Konte, Enriqué, Adamo Admiral, Orlando Puntilla Rios and many others. She has performed as a member of Combaye, Nueva Generacion and Jaasu Ballet, and with Chuck Davis and others in a wide variety of settings. She considers herself a traditionalist, but likes to stay current, and has brought in contemporary choreographers to work with Kulu Mele. She was early to embrace hip hop, mixing it with Yankadi and other dances. In 2007, she was awarded a Leeway Transformation award for art and social change, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts for choreography. Her most recent choreographed work, Ogun & the People, premiered in November 2019 as the company’s 50thanniversary show. It was developed through a study residency with Cutumba, in Santiago, Cuba, for members of Kulu Mele. Ms. Wilkiesays that it was a dream come true in many ways. “If I didn’t do anything else. . . I took them to Africa and Cuba. I put a lot of things on the table for them to eat
Awarded Grants
2020
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
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Overview
Dorothy will choreograph a new work, Elegba, based on Afro-Cuban spiritual tradition. Focused on the orisha associated with crossroads, Elegba, Dorothy’s work uses the story of this deity as a reminder of life’s trials and provides a different cultural framework at a time when so many people are at a crossroads, devastated by many kinds of loss. Her company, Kulu Mele, will perform it on video and share it widely online.
Partner
2019
Window of Opportunity Grant (WOO)
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Overview
Dorothy Wilkie Gordon will use Window of Opportunity funds to help cover of the cost and design of new costumes for a December performance at the Icebox Performance Space. During this performance, Dorothy will direct an original, choreographed performance of Afro-Cuba/Yoruba dance and drumming, featuring performances by members of Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble, where she has served as Artistic Director for nearly 30 years.
At this time of substantial momentum for both Dorothy and Kulu Mele, she believes it is important to continue their rapid trajectory by designing all-new costumes, which will allow her to accomplish her full artistic vision for this event.
2007
Leeway Transformation Award (LTA)
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Overview
Dorothy is a dancer, choreographer and teacher, who specializes in dances of West African and the African Diaspora. She has studied in Guinea and Cuba and also with teachers from Senegal and Ghana. She has been artistic director of Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble, the longest-lived African dance company in Philadelphia, for over twenty years. She teaches dance to children, mainly African American youth in Philadelphia's underserved communities, through free weekly classes at a local cultural center. Many of her former students and dancers have gone on to found their own companies or perform professionally. Ultimately, Dorothy's goal is for the broader community to have a chance to appreciate these forms of dance and along with the art an alternative, African-centered vision of beauty, heritage, and historical continuity.
2004
Window of Opportunity Grant (WOO)
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Overview
Intensive training with Susana Arena Perdosa to enhance movement vocabulary and folkloric content of dances while participating in the 9th Annual Explorations in Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum workshops held in Arcata, CA. Support for travel expenses.
2002
Window of Opportunity Grant (WOO)
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Overview
Residency with Ballet Folklorico Cutumba in Santiago, Cuba. Support towards travel, lodging and per diem.
