Dr. Iantha Tucker

President and Board Member, former longtime dance director at Morgan State

Dr. Iantha L. Tucker, a product of the Baltimore City Public Schools, received the R.N. from Harlem Hospital School of Nursing, the B.S. and M.S. from Morgan State College and the Ed. D. in Dance Education from New York University. In 2013, after 41 years of service, she retired as an Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance at Morgan State University, 37 years of which she was the artistic director and principal choreographer for the Modern Dance Ensemble. Dr. Tucker is a noted dance historian and speaker on African American Influence on Dance in the United States and has presented papers on Black Dance History at the Smithsonian Institute, Museum of American History, the Black College Dance Exchange and other colleges and universities. She has presented papers on Dance at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and at the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conferences. Dr. Tucker has acted as judge for dance competitions sponsored by the Baltimore City Public Schools, the Baltimore County Public Schools, the NAACP, the Howard County Arts Council, Fraternal, Religious and other organizations. She has choreographed for local, regional and national organizations. She has been a member of the board of directors of the Talking Drum: The Black Dance Newsletter. She is co-writer of the State of Maryland Curriculum Framework for Dance in Public Education, has been a member of the Maryland State Department of Education Task Force for the Arts in Education, the International Dance Council (CID-UNESCO), and the Howard County Arts Council.

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Elizabeth Hafey

Secretary and Board Member, assistant director, state affairs, Johns Hopkins University and Medicine

Elizabeth Hafey is an Assistant Director for State Affairs at Johns Hopkins University and Medicine. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, she worked as a civil defense attorney at two law firms based in Baltimore City.   Elizabeth received her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia, a M.S. in Law, Justice, and Society from American University, and a J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law.  Additionally, Elizabeth served as a Commissioner on the Maryland Health Care Commission and as a Commissioner for the Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City.  She has been recognized for several accomplishments in her field, and in 2016 was named one of Baltimore Business Journal's 40 Under 40.

Liz Pelton

Treasurer and Board Member, Yale University Press

Liz Pelton has worked for three decades in non-profit book publishing and is currently Senior Publicist at Yale University Press. Previously, she was Publicity Director at Harvard University Press and Acting Publicity Director at the Unversity of Chicago Press. She is a lifelong dancer who trained at North River Arts Ballet and Boston Ballet and who has performed with companies and independent choreographers in Connecticut and Illinois. She has taught dance to children at Morton Street Dance Center for more than 10 years and has also worked with children at Roland Park Elementary Middle School and the Park School. She is Associate Artistic Director of Full Circle Dance Company.   

Donna Basik

Board Member, MICA teacher, coach, artist

Donna Basik is a faculty member at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) located in Baltimore City in the MA in Teaching program. As a visual artist, teacher and researcher, she is an advocate for the importance of the arts in human development and the ways in which the arts enrich the life of the community. New to the Full Circle Dance Company board, she has been a supporter of local and regional dance initiatives for the past 25 years, and an advocate for the Baltimore arts community. She believes the arts serve best when they are collaborative, interdisciplinary, and emergent, reflecting the assets and concerns of the community they come from. 

Deborarh Hull

Board Member, Director of Arts, Park School

Deborah Hull is the K-12 Director of Arts at The Park School of Baltimore, a pre K-12 independent school.  A choreographer, performer, and arts educator, Deborah spent many years working as a freelance modern dancer and dance/theater artist in San Francisco, CA, where she founded and directed the dance program at The Hamlin School.  Deborah and her family moved to Baltimore from San Francisco in the summer of 2019, and she looks forward both to supporting Full Circle and to connecting with the wider DMV dance and arts communities 

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Maria Broom

Honorary Board Member

Although nationally known as an actress for her recurring roles in HBO’s “The Wire” and “The Corner”, Maria is also a storyteller and dancer with more than forty years of performing and teaching in the US and across the globe. She is a Fulbright scholar and former news reporter for the ABC affiliates in Miami and Baltimore. Currently, she is on the theater faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts. A native of Baltimore, Maria has received many awards and honors including the Eubie Blake Award, the Sarah’s Circle Award, and the 2004 Governor’s Arts Award for Individual Artist. In 2007, she was named Artist of the Year by Young Audiences of Maryland, Inc. In addition to her work as performer and educator, Maria is much requested as a speaker and presenter. With a background in yoga, meditation, Homa therapy and dance therapy, she conducts staff retreats, workshops and weekly classes that help people to release stress and feel at peace. Formerly the diversity coordinator for the Park School in Baltimore, she has been a consultant since 2006 for Maryland Public Television’s Campaign for Love and Forgiveness, sponsored by Fetzer Institute. As a recipient of an Open Society Institute community fellowship grant, Maria established a unique mentoring program in the inner-city schools, and beyond, called the Dance Girls of Baltimore. It is through this vehicle that she passes on the values of self-discipline and thoughtful behavior. In 2007, Maria worked in Poland and Czechoslovakia co-directing the independent film “Soul Immortal” to be released in 2010.

Ivy Fox

Honorary Board Member

Ivy Fox, of Baltimore, MD, has been performing since she was a young child. While attending Point Park College in Pittsburgh as a dance major, she studied and performed Luigi jazz technique under Douglass Bentz, Ron Tassone and Jody Welch, ballet with Mary Petrov, and Dunham with Ron Hudson. Ivy graduated from Alvin Ailey American Dance Center with a certificate in dance, working with such great dancers and teachers as Judith Jamison, Mercedes Ellington, Denise Jefferson, Penny Frank, Miguel Godreaux, Jose Meier, and Delores Browne. She became an EPCOT WORLD DANCER for Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida, performing with stars such as Ben Vereen, Debbie Boone, Donny Osmond, Maureen McGovern, and Carol Channing.  Her career has included extensive film, commercial, and stage work that has taken her to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland, France, Canada, Dubai, and many other locations around the world. Credits include the film BLACK NATIVITY, the musical CHICAGO (Broadway, national, and international tour), ANNIE on Broadway as understudy for Velma Kelly and Matron Mamma Morton, the first national tour of KISS ME KATE, the first national tour of RAGTIME, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York City, and more. In 2012 / 2013, she worked with Jacques d’Amboise’s National Dance Institute / New York City as a teaching assistant in the public school system, and she has also taught children through the Baltimore City Parks and Recreation dance camp. She has had several opportunities to choreograph for Dance Baltimore at the Baltimore Museum of Art. 

Alton McClain Scarborough

Honorary Board Member

Alton McClain Scarborough is a recording artist, music minister, and founder and CEO of The Scarborough Foundation, which awards scholarships and grants to public school students who display extraordinary natural abilities and acquired proficiency in the performing arts. Her group Alton McClain & Destiny’s first album for Polydor Records produced the Top 40 hit IT MUST BE LOVE. The group toured with Teddy Pendergrass, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Chic, Peabo Bryson, The Gap Band, and Millie Jackson.  They appeared on national television and toured Europe. A second album, MORE OF YOU, was a collection of upbeat dance tunes and heart-wrenching ballads that displayed Alton's unique vocal styling and versatility. A third album, GONNA TELL THE WORLD was produced by Grammy award-winning songwriter Skip Scarborough, who would become her husband and collaborator. While on tour in Japan with Ray Parker, Jr., Alton heard the call to sing Gospel. Her first Gospel album, GOD’S WOMAN, which her husband Skip produced, was released in 1995. Two years later Skip and Alton became the Music Ministers at the Place of Grace Church in Reisterstown, MD, where their friends David and Althea Franklin are the pastors. They fulfilled that role until Skip’s passing in 2003.  The album RENAISSANCE is a collection of these songs and is dedicated to his loving memory. https://thescarboroughfoundation.org/