Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". She made national headlines by staging a hunger strike to protest the U.S. governments repatriation policy for Haitian immigrants. She decided to live for a year in relative isolation in Kyoto, Japan, where she worked on writing memoirs of her youth. Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life. 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. Also Known For : . She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance." Katherine Dunham, June 22, Katherine Dunham was born to a French -Canadian woman and an African American man in the state of Chicago in America, Her birthday was 22nd June in the year 1909. . She taught dance lessons to help pay for her education at the University of Chicago. The following year, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Dunham to be technical cultural advisera sort of cultural ambassadorto the government of Senegal in West Africa. Understanding that the fact was due to racial discrimination, she made sure the incident was publicized. Dunham accepted a position at Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis in the 1960s. In 1950, while visiting Brazil, Dunham and her group were refused rooms at a first-class hotel in So Paulo, the Hotel Esplanada, frequented by many American businessmen. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. 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. 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". After the 1968 riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Dunham encouraged gang members in the ghetto to come to the center to use drumming and dance to vent their frustrations. Her mother, Fanny June Dunham, who, according to Dunham's memoir, possessed Indian, French Canadian, English and probably African ancestry, died when Dunham was four years old. The company was located on the property that formerly belonged to the Isadora Duncan Dance in Caravan Hill but subsequently moved to W 43rd Street. Dunham ended her fast only after exiled Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Jesse Jackson came to her and personally requested that she stop risking her life for this cause. About that time Dunham met and began to work with John Thomas Pratt, a Canadian who had become one of America's most renowned costume and theatrical set designers. Dunham was active in human rights causes, and in 1992 she staged a 47-day hunger strike to highlight the plight of Haitian refugees. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [1] Dunham also created the Dunham Technique. One of her fellow professors, with whom she collaborated, was architect Buckminster Fuller. Fun Facts. [54], Six decades before this new wave of anthropological discourse began, Katherine Dunham's work demonstrated anthropology being used as a force for challenging racist and colonial ideologies. 2 (2012): 159168. Dunham, who died at the age of 96 [in 2006], was an anthropologist and political activist, especially on behalf of the rights of black people. Long, Richard A, and Joe Nash. In 1967, Dunham opened the Performing Arts Training Center (PATC) in East St. Louis in an effort to use the arts to combat poverty and urban unrest. Katherine Dunham. . This was followed by television spectaculars filmed in London, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, and Mexico City. He needn't have bothered. Episode 5 of Break the FACTS! There she was able to bring anthropologists, sociologists, educational specialists, scientists, writers, musicians, and theater people together to create a liberal arts curriculum that would be a foundation for further college work. . Omissions? Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. 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. Although it was well received by the audience, local censors feared that the revealing costumes and provocative dances might compromise public morals. While a student at the University of Chicago, Dunham also performed as a dancer, ran a dance school, and earned an early bachelor's degree in anthropology. Katherine Dunham, was published in a limited, numbered edition of 130 copies by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. Dunham, Katherine dnm . In her biography, Joyce Aschenbrenner (2002), credits Ms Dunham as the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance", and describes her work as: "fundamentally . What are some fun facts about Katherine Dunham? Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. The original two-week engagement was extended by popular demand into a three-month run, after which the company embarked on an extensive tour of the United States and Canada. Transforming Anthropology 20, no. Later in the year she opened a cabaret show in Las Vegas, during the first year that the city became a popular entertainment as well as gambling destination. ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). After her company performed successfully, Dunham was chosen as dance director of the Chicago Negro Theater Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. Alumnae include Eartha Kitt, Marlon Brando and Julie Belafonte. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. The Dunham Technique Ballet African Dancing Her favorite color was platinum Caribbean Dancing Her favorite food was Filet of Sole How she started out Ballet African Dance Caribbean Dance The Dunham Technique wasn't so much as a technique so It was not a success, closing after only eight performances. This meant neither of the children were able to settle into a home for a few years. As a teenager, she won a scholarship to the Dunham school and later became a dancer with the company, before beginning her successful singing career. 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. On February 22, 2022, Selkirk will offer a unique, one-lot auction titled, Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Ephemera And Documents. In addition, Dunham conducted special projects for African American high school students in Chicago; was artistic and technical director (196667) to the president of Senegal; and served as artist-in-residence, and later professor, at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and director of Southern Illinoiss Performing Arts Training Centre and Dynamic Museum in East St. Louis, Illinois. Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. At the age of 82, Dunham went on a hunger strike in . These experiences provided ample material for the numerous books, articles and short stories Dunham authored. A photographic exhibit honoring her achievements, entitled Kaiso! This led to a custody battle over Katherine and her brother, brought on by their maternal relatives. As a dancer and choreographer, Katherine Dunham (1910-2002) wowed audiences in the 1930s and 1940s when she combined classical ballet with African rhythms to create an exciting new dance style. Fighting, Alive, Have Faith. Keep reading for more such interesting quotes at Kidadl!) "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." "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology through African American Dance Pedagogy." Katherine Johnson graduated from college at age 18. Kaiso is an Afro-Caribbean term denoting praise. As I document in my book Katherine Dunham: Dance and the . Kraut, Anthea. The Dunham company's international tours ended in Vienna in 1960. (She later wrote Journey to Accompong, a book describing her experiences there.) Her world-renowned modern dance company exposed audiences to the diversity of dance, and her schools brought dance training and education to a variety of populations sharing her passion and commitment to dance as a medium of cultural communication. Katherine Dunham died on May 21 2006. In 1978 Dunham was featured in the PBS special, Divine Drumbeats: Katherine Dunham and Her People, narrated by James Earl Jones, as part of the Dance in America series. She choreographed for Broadway stage productions and operaincluding Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. The Katherine Dunham Museum is located at 1005 Pennsylvania Avenue, East St. Louis, Illinois. Numerous scholars describe Dunham as pivotal to the fields of Dance Education, Applied Anthropology, Humanistic Anthropology, African Diasporic Anthropology and Liberatory Anthropology. Among her dancers selected were Marcia McBroom, Dana McBroom, Jean Kelly, and Jesse Oliver. It opened in Chicago in 1933, with a black cast and with Page dancing the title role. Transforming Anthropology 20 (2012): 159168. The critics acknowledged the historical research she did on dance in ancient Egypt, but they were not appreciative of her choreography as staged for this production.[25]. [13] University of Chicago's anthropology department was fairly new and the students were still encouraged to learn aspects of sociology, distinguishing it from other anthropology departments in the US that focused almost exclusively on non-Western peoples. ", While in Europe, she also influenced hat styles on the continent as well as spring fashion collections, featuring the Dunham line and Caribbean Rhapsody, and the Chiroteque Franaise made a bronze cast of her feet for a museum of important personalities.". [36] Her classes are described as a safe haven for many and some of her students even attribute their success in life to the structure and artistry of her technical institution. 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. Dunham continued to develop dozens of new productions during this period, and the company met with enthusiastic audiences in every city. [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. Katherine Dunham is the inventor of the Dunham technique and a renowned dancer and choreographer of African-American descent. Katherine Dunham: The Artist as Activist During World War II. This won international acclaim and is now taught as a modern dance style in many dance schools. Updates? Dunham's background as an anthropologist gave the dances of the opera a new authenticity. Genres Novels. Pratt, who was white, shared Dunham's interests in African-Caribbean cultures and was happy to put his talents in her service. In 1950, Sol Hurok presented Katherine Dunham and Her Company in a dance revue at the Broadway Theater in New York, with a program composed of some of Dunham's best works. The group performed Dunham's Negro Rhapsody at the Chicago Beaux Arts Ball. At the height of her career in the 1940s and 1950s, Dunham was renowned throughout Europe and Latin America and was widely popular in the United States. It next moved to the West Coast for an extended run of performances there. As a student, she studied under anthropologists such as A.R. In particular, Dunham is a model for the artist as activist. Dunham was both a popular entertainer and a serious artist intent on tracing the roots of Black culture. [54] Her legacy within Anthropology and Dance Anthropology continues to shine with each new day. "[35] Dunham explains that while she admired the narrative quality of ballet technique, she wanted to develop a movement vocabulary that captured the essence of the Afro-Caribbean dancers she worked with during her travels. She is a celebrity dancer. 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. Known for her many innovations, Dunham developed a dance pedagogy, later named the Dunham Technique, a style of movement and exercises based in traditional African dances, to support her choreography. Interesting facts. Another fact is that it was the sometime home of the pioneering black American dancer Katherine Dunham. [51] The couple had officially adopted their foster daughter, a 14-month-old girl they had found as an infant in a Roman Catholic convent nursery in Fresnes, France. She also danced professionally, owned a dance company, and operated a dance studio. Cruz Banks, Ojeya. 2 (2020): 259271. 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. April 30, 2019. Dunham also studied ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page, who became prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera. In August she was awarded a bachelor's degree, a Ph.B., bachelor of philosophy, with her principal area of study being social anthropology. katherine dunham fun factsaiken county sc register of deeds katherine dunham fun facts 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. There she met John Pratt, an artist and designer and they got married in 1941 until his death in 1986. In 1948, she opened A Caribbean Rhapsody, first at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, and then took it to the Thtre des Champs-lyses in Paris. The highly respected Dance magazine did a feature cover story on Dunham in August 2000 entitled "One-Woman Revolution". On graduating with a bachelors degree in anthropology she undertook field studies in the Caribbean and in Brazil. Example. for teaching dance that is still la'ag'ya , Shange , Veraruzana, nanigo. As a result, Dunham would later experience some diplomatic "difficulties" on her tours. Nationality. Such visitors included ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Robert Redfield, Bronisaw Malinowski, A.R. Katherine Dunham Biography, Life, Interesting Facts. Other Interesting Katherine Dunham Facts And Trivia 'Come Back To Arizona', a short story Katherine Dunham penned when she was 12 years old, was published in 1921 in volume two of 'The Brownies' Book'. From the 40s to the 60s, Dunham and her dance troupe toured to 57 countries of the world. [17] She was one of the first African-American women to attend this college and to earn these degrees. [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]. She graduated from Joliet Central High School in 1928, where she played baseball, tennis, basketball, and track; served as vice-president of the French Club, and was on the yearbook staff. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student . In 1987 she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, and was also inducted into the. 1. [15] He showed her the connection between dance and social life giving her the momentum to explore a new area of anthropology, which she later termed "Dance Anthropology". Dunham and her company appeared in the Hollywood movie Casbah (1948) with Tony Martin, Yvonne De Carlo, and Peter Lorre, and in the Italian film Botta e Risposta, produced by Dino de Laurentiis. Katherine Dunham, a world-renowned dancer and choreographer, had big plans for East St. Louis in 1977. Stormy Weather is a 1943 American musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox, adapted by Frederick J. Jackson, Ted Koehler and H.S. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Dancers are frequently instructed to place weight on the balls of their feet, lengthen their lumbar and cervical spines, and breathe from the abdomen and not the chest. Birth City: Decatur. As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "anthropology became a life-way"[2] for Dunham. A short biography on the legendary Katherine Dunham.All information found at: kdcah.org Enjoy the short history lesson and visit dancingindarkskin.com for mo. Featuring lively Latin American and Caribbean dances, plantation dances, and American social dances, the show was an immediate success. Dance is an essential part of life that has always been with me. Katherine Dunham got an early bachelor's degree in anthropology as a student at the University of Chicago. In 1928, while still an undergraduate, Dunham began to study ballet with Ludmilla Speranzeva, a Russian dancer who had settled in Chicago, after having come to the United States with the Franco-Russian vaudeville troupe Le Thtre de la Chauve-Souris, directed by impresario Nikita Balieff. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . Initially scheduled for a single performance, the show was so popular that the troupe repeated it for another ten Sundays. From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. "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,". [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. Dunham used Habitation Leclerc as a private retreat for many years, frequently bringing members of her dance company to recuperate from the stress of touring and to work on developing new dance productions. Biography. [10], After completing her studies at Joliet Junior College in 1928, Dunham moved to Chicago to join her brother Albert at the University of Chicago. Through her ballet teachers, she was also exposed to Spanish, East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance forms.[23]. A key reason for this choice was because she knew that through dance, her work would be able to be accessed by a wider array of audiences; more so than if she continued to limit her work within academia. Dunham became interested in both writing and dance at a young age. 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 . ", "Kaiso! until hia death in the 1986. Birth Country: United States. He had been a promising philosophy professor at Howard University and a protg of Alfred North Whitehead. She directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York, and was artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. On one of these visits, during the late 1940s, she purchased a large property of more than seven hectares (approximately 17.3 acres) in the Carrefours suburban area of Port-au-Prince, known as Habitation Leclerc. In 1935, Dunham received grants to conduct fieldwork in Trinidad, Jamaica, and Haiti to study Afro-Caribbean dance and other rituals. for the developing one of the the world performed many of her. With Dunham in the sultry role of temptress Georgia Brown, the show ran for 20 weeks in New York. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. Her legacy was far-reaching, both in dance and her cultural and social work. She wanted to know not only how people danced but why they dance. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology." It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. Question 2. Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. 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. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." Her many original works include Lagya, Shango and Bal Negre. Pas de Deux from "L'Ag'Ya". Katherine Dunham on dance anthropology. Dunham saved the day by arranging for the company to be paid to appear in a German television special, Karibische Rhythmen, after which they returned to the United States. She lectured every summer until her death at annual Masters' Seminars in St. Louis, which attracted dance students from around the world. ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . She also created several other works of choreography, including The Emperor Jones (a response to the play by Eugene O'Neill) and Barrelhouse. 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. However, fully aware of her passion for both dance performance, as well as anthropological research, she felt she had to choose between the two. They had particular success in Denmark and France. Its premiere performance on December 9, 1950, at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile,[39][40] generated considerable public interest in the early months of 1951. Tune in & learn about the inception of. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". Dunham is credited with introducing international audiences to African aesthetics and establishing African dance as a true art form. The Katherine Dunham Company became an incubator for many well known performers, including Archie Savage, Talley Beatty, Janet Collins, Lenwood Morris, Vanoye Aikens, Lucille Ellis, Pearl Reynolds, Camille Yarbrough, Lavinia Williams, and Tommy Gomez. But Dunham, who was Black and held a doctorate in anthropology, had hoped to spur a "cultural awakening on the East Side," she told . Glory Van Scott and Jean-Lon Destin were among other former Dunham dancers who remained her lifelong friends. Dun ham had one of the most successful dance careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. You can't learn about dances until you learn about people. The Washington Post called her "dancer Katherine the Great." After running it as a tourist spot, with Vodun dancing as entertainment, in the early 1960s, she sold it to a French entrepreneur in the early 1970s. Together, they produced the first version of her dance composition L'Ag'Ya, which premiered on January 27, 1938, as a part of the Federal Theater Project in Chicago. In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. As celebrities, their voices can have a profound influence on popular culture. Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. Katherine Mary Dunham, 22 Jun 1909 - 21 May 2006 Exhibition Label Born Glen Ellyn, Illinois One of the founders of the anthropological dance movement, Katherine Dunham distilled Caribbean and African dance elements into modern American choreography. The company returned to New York. The first work, entitled A Touch of Innocence: Memoirs of Childhood, was published in 1959. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology. One of the most important dance artists of the twentieth century, dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) created works that thrilled audiences the world over. Some Facts. The Met Ballet Company dancers studied Dunham Technique at Dunham's 42nd Street dance studio for the entire summer leading up to the season opening of Aida. During these years, the Dunham company appeared in some 33 countries in Europe, North Africa, South America, Australia, and East Asia. Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. [15] Dunham's relationship with Redfield in particular was highly influential. In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Gender: Female. Her dance career was interrupted in 1935 when she received funding from the Rosenwald Foundation which allowed her to travel to Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, and Haiti for eighteen months to explore each country's respective dance cultures. Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. 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. Having completed her undergraduate work at the University of Chicago and decided to pursue a performing career rather than academic studies, Dunham revived her dance ensemble. Called the Matriarch of Black Dance, her groundbreaking repertoire combined innovative interpretations of Caribbean dances, traditional ballet, African rituals and African American rhythms to create the Dunham Technique, which she performed with her dance troupe in venues around the world. Katherine Dunham PhB'36. In Boston, then a bastion of conservatism, the show was banned in 1944 after only one performance. [11], During her time in Chicago, Dunham enjoyed holding social gatherings and inviting visitors to her apartment. Later that year she took her troupe to Mexico, where their performances were so popular that they stayed and performed for more than two months. Most Popular #73650. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . "Kaiso! A dance choreographer. One recurring theme that I really . At the time, the South Side of Chicago was experiencing the effects of the Great Migration were Black southerners attempted to escape the Jim Crow South and poverty.
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