Ballethnic's Savery Morgan Returns

Ballethnic’s Savery Morgan Returns to Atlanta with New Passion for Dance Excellence and Community Community

“As a young dancer, I really wanted to dance and not teach so much,” says Savery Morgan, Ballethnic’s new associate artistic director. “Now, I am in the community and enjoying the discovery of new talents, interacting with the genius brains of the future. I am able to support the younger generation with my passion.”

Along with Ballethnic’s founders Nena Gilreath and Waverly T. Lucas II, Morgan is poised to utilize this passion. He hopes to enhance Ballethnic’s commitment to community outreach, education and artistic excellence within the Atlanta community.

Morgan brings experience from tenures at Florida Ballet Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Breaking Barriers Ensemble, and an earlier stint at Ballethnic. Community outreach and education were a large part of his training, each city with its own needs.

“In Jacksonville, it was about exposure, giving youth a chance to be introduced to different ways of expressing their feelings in a positive light,” he says.

“New York offered the most diverse platform. It was more about building a community with different cultures. Atlanta embraced me in a way that built my self esteem, moral values, and extended family.” Now back at Ballethnic, Morgan’s mission is to utilize all he learned from each city. He states, “In working with the youth of Atlanta, it’s important that I bring all these elements to the table. Sharing similarities that each dancer can relate to helps them connect with one another.”

“As for artistic goals, Ballethnic has a history of working in excellence,” Morgan says. “My personal goal for the company is to have a group of elite artists that meet the classical standards and respectfully energize the ethnic styles. I want our dancers to express their voices by working with choreographers from around the world that speak to social change and the beauty of art.” “For the Academy, I would love to enhance the current curriculum so that it is accommodating and doesn’t negate our level of excellence. I would love to adopt some of the teaching from the American Ballet Theatre National Curriculum and invite instructors from around the world to ‘pour into’ our students.”

“The community serves as a base for fellowship,” Morgan explains, “allowing us to work in a high level of respect and understanding of our common goal — to produce excellence."