Ko~Thi Dance Company :: The Company

Bios
Ferne Yangyeitie Caulker
Founder and Artistic/Executive Director

Ferne Caulker is a native of Sierra Leone, West Africa. She founded the company in 1969 after returning from a research trip to Ghana, West Africa. There, she studied with the National Dance Company of Ghana at the University of Ghana in Legon. She is a Full Professor at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, in the Department of Dance. She has been teaching at UWM since 1971 and created the University's first courses on the technique and history of African, African-American and Caribbean dance.

In 1995, she was awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship allowing her to spend 3 months in Tanzania, East Africa. In addition to focusing on her own research, she taught at the University of Dar es Salaam, worked with the UWASA traditional Cultural Group, and provided workshops and lectures for children through the United African-American Cultural Center in Arusha.

In 2001, Milwaukee's Professional Dimensions honored her with their prestigious Sacagawea Award, given annually to two outstanding women of achievement.
Ms. Caulker is a sought-after passionate speaker on behalf of the arts and has served on many panels including the 1999-2000 State Superintendent's Blue Ribbon Commission on the Arts in Education and the National Endowment for the Arts 2000 Dance Panel. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Judith Quigley
Managing Director

Valencia Turner
Associate Artistic Director and Director of Educational Outreach and Booking

D'Angelo Boston
Assistant to Associate Director and Artistic Director of Ton Ko-Thi Children's Ensemble

Steve Willis
Musical Director of Ton Ko-Thi Children's Ensemble

Shukrani Gray and Angela Jones
Assistant Artistic Directors of Ton Ko-Thi Children's Ensemble

Shirley Gilbert
Studio Manager

Terrance Spencer
Associate Musical Director of Ton Ko-Thi Children's Ensemble