Hope Clarke

Hope Clarke is an American actress dancer vocalist choreographer and director Clarke performed as principal dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 1960s actress on stage film and television 1970s1980s choreographer and director 1980s Clarke served on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee for the 201112 Broadway season Clarke made history in 1995 when she became the first African American as well as the first AfricanAmerican woman to direct and choreograph a major staging of the operamusical Porgy and Bess Clarkes production of the George Gershwin classic was staged in celebration of the works 60h anniversary and it toured not only major American cities but Japan and Europe as well Clarke drew critical acclaim for her commitment to staging the show as a monument to AfricanAmerican community and pride giving a more hopeful positive aura to a story that has been criticized for its stereotypes As for the director herself the success of Porgy and Bess is just the latest accolade in a long career devoted to dance and drama