Morgan Halperin, born and raised in New York, spent most of his childhood in the pursuit of athletic, musical and academic excellence. In 1969, he was selected by the New York State Music Association as the best high school clarinetist of the year. He graduated from Cornell University in 1974 and obtained a law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law. Morgan has been licensed to practice law in California since 1987.
In 1974, after reading, "Be Here Now" by Baba Ram Dass, Morgan was drawn to travel overland from Netherlands to India. He was initiated into the practice of hatha yoga by a 70-year-old adept while living at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India. Upon his arrival in San Francisco in 1976, Morgan started his practice of t'ai chi ch'uan at the Inner Research Institute. In addition to the good fortune of studying under the watchful eyes of the IRI's founders, Martin Inn, Robert Amacker, and Susan Foe, Morgan also gained significant benefit from study with Benjamin Lo, Marshall Ho, Tam Gibbs and Abraham Liu. Morgan remains a student of Martin Inn and Robert Amacker, co-authors along with Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo of the first English translation of the Chinese classics "The Essence of Tai Chi."
Morgan has been teaching Tai Chi in Nevada County since 1993.
Susan Halperin has been fully engaged in movement arts since age seven. Her first ballet teachers, Serge and Anna Ismailoff of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, taught in the classical Russian tradition. She studied modern dance at the renowned New York studios of Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Alvin Ailey. In San Francisco, she performed with Dance Spectrum, San Francisco Opera Ballet, Tumbleweed Dance Collective, Pure Wine (Sufi) Dance Company and Fly By Nite (aerials with Terry Sendgraff).
After starting the study of t'ai chi ch'uan at the Inner Research Institute in 1975, her interest turned more toward the internal arts and the merging of movement with martial meaning. Susan and Morgan met at the IRI in 1978, and moved to Nevada County in 1990 with their two young daughters. They continue to deepen their practice with classes, workshops and retreats, and guidance from their teachers.
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