Dunham herself was quietly involved in both the Voodoo and Orisa communities of the Caribbean and the United States, in particular with the Lucumi tradition. In 1921, a short story she wrote when she was 12 years old, called "Come Back to Arizona", was published in volume 2 of The Brownies' Book. . theatrical designers john pratt. After her company performed successfully, Dunham was chosen as dance director of the Chicago Negro Theater Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. She was the first American dancer to present indigenous forms on a concert stage, the first to sustain a black dance company. She created and performed in works for stage, clubs, and Hollywood films; she started a school and a technique that continue to flourish; she fought unstintingly for racial justice. Katherine Dunham | YourDictionary She . She describes this during an interview in 2002: "My problemmy strong drive at that time was to remain in this academic position that anthropology gave me, and at the same time continue with this strong drive for motionrhythmic motion". 2023 The HistoryMakers. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. 5 Katherine Dunham facts - Katherine dunham He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. In 1938 she joined the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago and composed a ballet, LAgYa, based on Caribbean dance. Her work helped send astronauts to the . Numerous scholars describe Dunham as pivotal to the fields of Dance Education, Applied Anthropology, Humanistic Anthropology, African Diasporic Anthropology and Liberatory Anthropology. Chin, Elizabeth. If Cities Could Dance: East St. Louis. The schools she created helped train such notables as Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins in the "Dunham technique." Death . Katherine Dunham predated, pioneered, and demonstrated new ways of doing and envisioning Anthropology six decades ahead of the discipline. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) By Halifu Osumare Katherine Dunham was a world famous dancer, choreographer, author, anthropologist, social activist, and humanitarian. As an African American woman, she broke barriers of race and gender, most notably as the founder of an important dance company that toured the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for several decades. 8 Katherine Dunham facts. Legendary dancer, choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909, to an African American father and French-Canadian mother who died when she was young. Gender: Female. Fighting for Katherine Dunham's Dream in East St. Louis Katherine Dunham, the dancer, choreographer, teacher and anthropologist whose pioneering work introduced much of the black heritage in dance to the stage, died Sunday at her home in Manhattan. The family moved to Joliet, Illinois when her father remarried. American Anthropologist 122, no. Katherine Johnson | Biography, Education, Accomplishments, & Facts Receiving a post graduate academic fellowship, she went to the Caribbean to study the African diaspora, ethnography and local dance. A continuation based on her experiences in Haiti, Island Possessed, was published in 1969. International dance icon Katherine Dunham (right,) also an anthropologist, founded an art museum in East St. Louis, IL. The prince was then married to actress Rita Hayworth, and Dunham was now legally married to John Pratt; a quiet ceremony in Las Vegas had taken place earlier in the year. After he became her artistic collaborator, they became romantically involved. [8], Despite her choosing dance, Dunham often voiced recognition of her debt to the discipline: "without [anthropology] I don't know what I would have done.In anthropology, I learned how to feel about myself in relation to other people. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) brought African dance aesthetics to the United States, forever influencing modern and jazz dance. Birthday : June 22, 1909. Despite these successes, the company frequently ran into periods of financial difficulties, as Dunham was required to support all of the 30 to 40 dancers and musicians. Members of Dunham's last New York Company auditioned to become members of the Met Ballet Company. [13] The Anthropology department at Chicago in the 1930s and 40s has been described as holistic, interdisciplinary, with a philosophy of liberal humanism, and principles of racial equality and cultural relativity. The company soon embarked on a tour of venues in South America, Europe, and North Africa. Admission is $10, or $5 for students and seniors, and hours are by appointment; call 618-875-3636, or 618-618-795-5970 three to five days in advance. American dancer and choreographer (19092006). Katherine Dunham in 1956. As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "Today, it is safe to say, there is no American black dancer who has not been influenced by the Dunham Technique, unless he or she works entirely within a classical genre",[2] and the Dunham Technique is still taught to anyone who studies modern dance. Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz Dance | Jazz Dance: A History of the At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". The Washington Post called her "dancer Katherine the Great." Katherine Dunham - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays Dunham early became interested in dance. She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US [1]. Deren is now considered to be a pioneer of independent American filmmaking. In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. This concert, billed as Tropics and Le Hot Jazz, included not only her favorite partners Archie Savage and Talley Beatty, but her principal Haitian drummer, Papa Augustin. Banks, Ojeya Cruz. This initiative drew international publicity to the plight of the Haitian boat-people and U.S. discrimination against them. : Writings by and About Katherine Dunham. He had been a promising philosophy professor at Howard University and a protg of Alfred North Whitehead. Among her dancers selected were Marcia McBroom, Dana McBroom, Jean Kelly, and Jesse Oliver. Katherine Dunham Biography for Kids - lottie.com By drawing on a vast, never-utilized trove of archival materials along with oral histories, choreographic analysis, and embodied research, Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora offers new insight about how this remarkable woman built political solidarity through the arts. Among Dunham's closest friends and colleagues was Julie Robinson, formerly a performer with the Katherine Dunham Company, and her husband, singer and later political activist Harry Belafonte. Through her ballet teachers, she was also exposed to Spanish, East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance forms.[23]. Johnson 's gift for numbers allowed her to accelerate through her education. Katherine Dunham. The PATC teaching staff was made up of former members of Dunham's touring company, as well as local residents. [37] One historian noted that "during the course of the tour, Dunham and the troupe had recurrent problems with racial discrimination, leading her to a posture of militancy which was to characterize her subsequent career."[38]. [4], Katherine Mary Dunham was born on 22 June 1909 in a Chicago hospital. 10 Facts About Katherine Johnson - Mental Floss [15] Dunham's relationship with Redfield in particular was highly influential. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Dunham, Katherine | FactMonster In response, the Afonso Arinos law was passed in 1951 that made racial discrimination in public places a felony in Brazil.[42][43][44][45][46][47]. Who Was Katherine Dunham??? by Adrianne Hoopes - Prezi Katherine Dunham - IMDb The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. Artists are necessary to social justice movements; they are the ones who possess a gift to see beyond the bleak present and imagine a better future. [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. "What Dunham gave modern dance was a coherent lexicon of African and Caribbean styles of movementa flexible torso and spine, articulated pelvis and isolation of the limbs, a polyrhythmic strategy of movingwhich she integrated with techniques of ballet and modern dance." However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student . Transforming Anthropology 20, no. Here are some interesting facts about Alvin Ailey for you: Facts about Alvin Ailey 1: the popular modern dance Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. In August she was awarded a bachelor's degree, a Ph.B., bachelor of philosophy, with her principal area of study being social anthropology. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it's a safe place for kids . While Dunham was recognized as "unofficially" representing American cultural life in her foreign tours, she was given very little assistance of any kind by the U.S. State Department. Last Name Dunham #5. The troupe performed a suite of West Indian dances in the first half of the program and a ballet entitled Tropic Death, with Talley Beatty, in the second half. Katherine Dunham is credited Her dance troupe in venues around. [50] Both Dunham and the prince denied the suggestion. Zombies, The Third Person, Intelligent Dancers, and Katherine Dunham The result of this trip was Dunham's Master's thesis entitled "The Dances of Haiti". Q. Katherine Mary Dun ham was an African-American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. Alvin Ailey, who stated that he first became interested in dance as a professional career after having seen a performance of the Katherine Dunham Company as a young teenager of 14 in Los Angeles, called the Dunham Technique "the closest thing to a unified Afro-American dance existing.". [13], Dunham officially joined the department in 1929 as an anthropology major,[13] while studying dances of the African diaspora. Fun Facts. The next year the production was repeated with Katherine Dunham in the lead and with students from Dunham's Negro Dance Group in the ensemble. Katherine Dunham - Wikipedia Katherine Dunham - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family - Sticky Facts Dunham refused to hold a show in one theater after finding out that the city's black residents had not been allowed to buy tickets for the performance. Classes are led by Ruby Streate, director of dance and education and artistic director of the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. She was instrumental in getting respect for Black dancers on the concert dance stage and directed the first self-supported Black dance company. Such visitors included ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Robert Redfield, Bronisaw Malinowski, A.R. Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. for teaching dance that is still la'ag'ya , Shange , Veraruzana, nanigo. However, it has now became a common practice within the discipline. She was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honors Award, the Plaque d'Honneur Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce Award, and a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. It was not a success, closing after only eight performances. Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. In this post, she choreographed the Chicago production of Run Li'l Chil'lun, performed at the Goodman Theater. Katherine Dunham always had an interest in dance and anthropology so her main goal in life was to combine them. USA. In 1964, Dunham settled in East St. Louis, and took up the post of artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University in nearby Edwardsville. Initially scheduled for a single performance, the show was so popular that the troupe repeated it for another ten Sundays. Katherine Dunham's long and remarkable life spanned the fields of anthropology, dance, theater, and inner city social work.As an anthropologist, Dunham studied and lived among the peoples of Haiti and other Caribbean islands; as a dancer and choreographer she combined "primitive" Caribbean dances with . Fun facts. Back in the United States she formed an all-black dance troupe, which in 1940 performed her Tropics and Le Jazz . ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . until hia death in the 1986. "Hoy programa extraordinario y el sbado dos estamos nos ofrece Katherine Dunham,", Constance Valis Hill, "Katherine Dunham's, Anna Kisselgoff, "Katherine Dunham's Legacy, Visible in Youth and Age,". In my mind, it's the most fascinating thing in the world to learn".[19]. In the 1930s, she did fieldwork in the Caribbean and infused her choreography with the cultures . Video. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) was a world-renowned choreographer who broke many barriers of race and gender, most notably as an African American woman whose dance company toured the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for several decades. Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. June 22 Dancer #4. 30 seconds. The program included courses in dance, drama, performing arts, applied skills, humanities, cultural studies, and Caribbean research. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. ", "Kaiso! They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Katherine Dunham Museum: Saving the Legacy of a True Renaissance Woman (She later took a Ph.D. in anthropology.) (She later wrote Journey to Accompong, a book describing her experiences there.) This was followed by television spectaculars filmed in London, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, and Mexico City. Born Katherine Coleman in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia . She established the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities in East St. Louis to preserve Haitian and African instruments and artifacts from her personal collection. Katherine Dunham - Dancing with History Her father, Albert Millard Dunham, was a descendant of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar. Dunham passed away on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at the age of 96. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". Many of Dunham students who attended free public classes in East St. Louis Illinois speak highly about the influence of her open technique classes and artistic presence in the city. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,