Profile

For three decades, Cornell "Sugarfoot" Coley, M.Ed has been devoted to African Diaspora arts and education.

As a teacher and developer of arts education curriculum.

As a arts therapist, utilizing drums, dance and singing.

As a performer and leader of musical groups.

As a drum circle facilitator for the community and teambuilding.

Background and Training

Earning the name "Sugarfoot" through his dancing ability, Cornell Coley was born in Kingston, Jamaica of Cuban and Jamaican parents. His family immigrated to Boston when he was four years old and he began studying drums five years later.

While an undergraduate at Tufts University, he started his dance career during a visit to Ghana. After earning his B.A. in English at Tufts, Mr. Coley did graduate work in cultural anthropology at UCLA and earned a Masters in Education from Cambridge College.

He has studied with master drum circle facilitator Arthur Hull and with many masters in African Diaspora drum and dance, including CK Ladzekpo (Ghana), Malonga Casque Lourdes (Congo), Conjunto Folklorico (Cuba), Diane Walker (tap) and Jose Lorenzo (Afro-Brazilian) and Deraldo Ferreira (Capoeira), traveling several times to their places of origin.

His Masters in Education is from Cambridge College with a specialization in curriculum development.

Educator

Mr. Coley has extensive experience teaching about African-Latin dance, music, and culture at all levels - toddlers, K-12, university level, adults and with community groups.

He has been adjunct faculty at several prestigious colleges, including Smith College and its 5-college consortium, UCLA, Trinity College, U Mass Boston and Northeastern University.

He taught for five years at Tufts University Dance Department and at the Cultural Training Institute of Jamaica. He has also been an artist-in-residence at in public and private schools and community centers in New England and California.

In 1994, he wrote the first draft of the arts curriculum framework for the Massachusetts Department of Education.

See a video of a choreography Mr. Coley created for Wellesley College

Performer

Mr. Coley is an active and seasoned performer. As a musician with the motto "Have Drums, Will Travel", he plays the drum kit, timbales, congas, bongos, talking drum, berimbau, Brazilian carnival drums and other percussion. As a dancer, his specialties include Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, Congolese, Ghanaian, rhythm tap, and salsa. He has performed at festivals in the United States and internationally, including tours with the "Uclatino" band in Mexico and the "Bodytjak" Indonesian-American ensemble in Indonesia.

Therapist

In 2009, Mr. Coley extended his work to arts therapy. He contracts with The Healing Arts Alternative: Pathways to Health organization as a music arts therapist, utilizing drums, percussion and song. His has conducted successful residencies in the Vermont Veteran's Home, as well as the Tewksbury and Butler Hospitals. There, he works with patients suffering from Altzheimers disease, depression, substance abuse, pshyciatric disorders, trauma, amputations, post traumatic stress disorder, dementia and cancer.

Teambuilder - Drum Circle Facilitator

Utilizing drum circles to build team strength in a business environment, Mr. Coley leads transformational experiences in a few short hours. Clients have fun learning new skills and reinforcing desired individual behaviors that support the group or mission through drumming together. He guides groups through this process using body rhythms, call and response playing and singing, deep listening, improvization, syncopation and solos.

Producer

Mr. Coley has produced concerts and special events involving local and international artists, including luminaries such as Esperanza Spaulding, Babatunde Olatunji, Elma Lewis, Dr Guerdes Fleurant and Marta Vega. A short list includes:

The 26th Annual Outdoor Arts Festival for the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce

The Afrison Cuba concert series in Los Angeles and Boston

The Africa Oye Regional Conference

"A Night in Bahia" concert and dance events

"Dance and Drum" video talk show for cable access television

The four year "Women in Latin Jazz Festival"

The Latin Jazz and Poetry Series at Jamaicaway Books

Other Activities

In addition to his educational ventures and performing, Mr. Coley serves on two boards of directors and consults in programming, fundraising, and resource development for select clients, including the Spontaneous Celebrations Community Center.

View Cornell Coley's resume in
Acrobat PDF format.