Clarke began her career as a principal dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and as an actress appeared in many stage, film, and television productions.
[2] She grew up in a middle class Black community, a place where people shopped through mail-order catalogues in order to purchase clothes offered in stores where they were not welcomed.
“The black community, as I remember it, was very closely knit," Clarke said in the San Francisco Examiner: "Before the fabric of this society was torn by racism and lack of education, we all took care of each other.
[6] In 1961, Clarke appeared in the interracial love story Kwamina starring Brock Peters and Robert Guillaume, and featuring the choreography of Agnes de Mille.
[8] In 1969, Clarke had a role in Douglas Turner Ward’s “The Reckoning” at the St. Mark’s Playhouse,[1][4] an off-off Broadway theater that showcased the work of the Negro Ensemble Company.
[1][4] Clarke, along with Michael Blake, Carmen de Lavallade, Sheila Rohan, and others, co-founded the former 5 Plus Ensemble (New Beginnings Theater), a dance company created to showcase the work of dancers, choreographer, and musicians who are older than the age of 50.
[23][10][11] Regarded as America’s greatest opera, the two million dollar Houston Grand production toured throughout the United States, as well as performances in Italy and Japan.