Donald M. Griffith

Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith co-founder/producer/director/publisher/curator/moderator of Fountainhead® Tanz Théâtre, Berlin/Germany (1980), Black International Cinema Berlin (1986), The Collegium - Forum & Television Program Berlin and other cities (1995), "Footprints in the Sand?" ExhibitionBerlin (2000) and Cultural Zephyr e.V. (1990). Professor Donald Muldrow Griffith completed his studies in Psychology and Pedagogics at the University of Loyola, Chicago Illinois, USA. After considerable time as a practicing Group Therapist, Elementary School teacher and Probation Officer for Juvenile Offenders, he began training in fine arts, acting, voice and expression at the Fine Arts Building Chicago. There he studied voice training with Martha Larrimore and acting with Everett Clark. Donald M. Griffith also studied various dance techniques in additional studios such as the Chicago Dance Center and ballet with Edward Parish, Phyllis Sabold and Erik Bruhn. In New York City he began training in Modern Dance, African Dance and Jazz Dance with Fred Benjamin, Paul Sanasardo, the Alvin Ailey School, the Martha Graham School and the Clark Center for the Performing Arts. His stage, choreographic and production career began in the USA as an actor, singer, dancer, fashion model and choreographer and he performed featured roles in musicals, theater, television commercials and film productions. Prof. Griffith played the starring roles in the Broadway Musicals "Pippin," "Stop The World, I Want To Get Off," "Lyrics Of Sunshine And Shadows," where he, under the direction of Oscar Brown Jr., portrayed the poet, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and was also nominated "Most Promising New Off Broadway Actor," by the New York Drama Critics for his featured roles in "Contributions," a three act drama in which Donald Muldrow Griffith appeared in two of the three acts. Prof. Griffith also appeared in "A Streetcar Named Desire", with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and in the musical "The Me Nobody Knows", portrayed the role of Sammy in the television soap opera "One Life to Lead" and has been featured in many television commercials. He staged fashion shows for major clothing manufacturers and fashion houses at venues such as, Lincoln Center, Waldorf Astoria, Regines and other New York City locales. Prof. Griffith narrated industrial shows in the USA for a number of years for clients such as Ford Motor Company, Buick, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Western Electric, Trans World Airlines, Detroit Diesel and other major companies in the USA. He appeared in Musical Revues and performed with Oscar Brown Jr. Productions, Philip Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble, the Phyllis Sabold Dancers, the Rondo Dance Theater and the Fred Benjamin Dance Company. In addition, he managed the careers of artists, such as Oscar Brown Jr., in Chicago, Illinois and New York City. Prof. Griffith's quest for further creative and educational opportunities was enhanced by an invitation to Berlin/Germany for performing, teaching and choreographing at Theater des Westens. As a result, Fountainhead® Tanz Théâtre was established. Prof. Griffith's direction and choreography of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" was awarded "Special Judge's Award" for Choreography and Music in the European-wide Tournament of Plays by the U.S. Army. As a result of their educational and artistic backgrounds in the USA/Europe and after an international university search, he and Prof. Gayle McKinney Griffith were selected and invited to Indiana University South Bend, USA, to establish and direct a dance theater department, where their professorships were bestowed upon them. Prof. Griffith's talent, creativity and experience as a singer, actor, dancer, narrator, writer, producer, director and choreographer are characteristic of Fountainhead® Tanz Théâtre's undertakings and productions today.