GLENDOLA "XLLYHEMA" MILLS, EDD

Glendola Mills is an Associate Professor and Director of Dance at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Other academic work includes appointments at Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Norfolk State University (Norfolk, Virginia), Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania), and University of the Arts (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Throughout her tenure at Morgan, she has served as department chair, academic advisor, and mentor to Physical Education majors, and the founding advisor for Delta Chi Xi national honorary dance fraternity.  She is the first of four dance masters of the Umfundalai contemporary African dance.  In 2016, she was knighted the technique’s only dance master. 

Her scholarly publications and presentations on African and African American dance, Umfundalai, and aesthetics is available in refereed periodicals (Journal of Black Studies, JOPERD, and SAGE), books, and at diverse conferences and meetings across the country. Dr. Mills' seminal dissertation on the Umfundalai technique codified by Dr. Kariamu Welsh received recognition from UMC and is housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Her creative scholarly work includes choreography and Umfundalai reconstructions in the repertoire of Kariamu and Company: Traditions, Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble, Eleone Dance Theatre and PHILADANCO II. Her new creative works appear primarily on Morgan State University companies including the MSU Modern Dance Ensemble. Dr. Mills has served as an expert in the area of African and African American dance, curriculum, and aesthetics for grant panels, community projects, task force, as cultural consultant for news media, and workshop facilitator. She is particularly known in her field for working collaboratively for the advancement of dance and physical education, particularly African and African Diaspora traditions, through coordination of concerts, festival, and conferences. She has also served in leadership positions in state and national organizations including the Black College Dance Exchange and SHAPE formerly American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.