Sinclair Emoghene

He / Him / His

Read about Sinclair Emoghene, a dancer and dance researcher whose work reinterprets the ways historical data in African and African diaspora dances are structured, presented and archived

Assistant Professor, Dance

Sinclair Emoghene is a dancer and dance researcher whose work explores the body as a performance surface while reinterpreting the ways historical data in African and African diaspora dances are structured, presented and archived. His ongoing research, "The Living Archive: Analysis, Description, and Assemblages of African Dance," leverages cutting-edge technologies to create a comprehensive dance archiving research that collects, replicates, analyzes and interprets dances from the bodies, lands and oral traditions of Africa and its Diasporas. This work is supported by the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and the Association for Cultural Equity (ACE) in New York. His most recent publication is the co-authored book, Dancing in the World: Revealing Cultural Confluences (Routledge - Taylor and Francis, 2023). In this work, the authors develop a framework of dance confluences that critically examines spaces as both intellectual and physical concepts. The book explores how dance cultures intersect in these spaces to share cultural knowledge. As an artist, Emoghene has created works for a variety of audiences, including the Nollywood audience in Nigeria/Africa, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and other prestigious institutions.

African Dance (West African, particularly Nigeria); Contemporary African Dance; Dance Replication; Technology and Archiving; Dance Film Curation, Criticism and Ideation; Dance History (Africa); Social Dancing Across Africa and the Americas.

Choreography, Dance History, Dance in a Global Context, West African Dance (Nigerian), Contemporary Dances of Africa Social Dancing - Social Latin (Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cha Cha, Samba), Social Ballroom (American Smooth and Rhythm), Social Country (Line Dances, Two Step, East Coast Swing, Waltz, Nightclub)

Emoghene, Sinclair and Spanos, Kathleen Ph.D. - Dancing in the World: Revealing Cultural Confluences (Routledge - Taylor and Francis, 2023) 

Ongoing Research: "The Living Archive: Analysis, Description, and Assemblages of African Dance," 2022 - present

I’ll Take My Chances - The Royal Arts Academy, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria; 2011 

Nyam Chiem (Nightmare) - The Clarice Performing Arts Center, Maryland; 2015 

Rooted On A Moving Spot (ROAMS) - The Arts and Sociology Metal Shop, The University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; 2016 

Kaleidoscope of Tuts - The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C.; 2020 

Therapy - Short Film, Online Premier; 2021 

Facets of Esoteric

  • The Anderson Gallery, Richmond, Virginia; 2021
  • The REACH at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, South Campus, Washington, D.C.; 2019

Contact Information