The incident was widely discussed in the Brazilian press and became a hot political issue. As a choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of dance in the twentieth century. You dance because you have to. The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. Nationality. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Another fact is that it was the sometime home of the pioneering black American dancer Katherine Dunham. He continued as her artistic collaborator until his death in 1986. Dunham's dance career first began in Chicago when she joined the Little Theater Company of Harper Avenue. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. For several years, Dunham's personal assistant and press promoter was Maya Deren, who later also became interested in Vodun and wrote The Divine Horseman: The Voodoo Gods of Haiti (1953). A photographic exhibit honoring her achievements, entitled Kaiso! New York City, U.S. 113 views, 2 likes, 4 loves, 0 comments, 6 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Institute for Dunham Technique Certification: Fun facts about Julie Belafonte brought to you by IDTC! Pas de Deux from "L'Ag'Ya". 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. 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. Katherine Dunham. 52 Copy quote. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. Dunham created Rara Tonga and Woman with a Cigar at this time, which became well known. Charm Dance from "L'Ag'Ya". 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. She arranged a fundraising cabaret for a Methodist Church, where she did her first public performance when she was 15 years old. 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. While trying to help the young people in the community, Dunham was arrested. 1910-2006. During her tenure, she secured funding for the Performing Arts Training Center, where she introduced a program designed to channel the energy of the communitys youth away from gangs and into dance. Katherine Dunham is the inventor of the Dunham technique and a renowned dancer and choreographer of African-American descent. Her father was of black ancestry, a descendant of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar, while her mother belonged to mixed French-Canadian and Native . In 19341936, Dunham performed as a guest artist with the ballet company of the Chicago Opera. This is where, in the late 1960s, global dance legend Katherine Dunham put down roots and taught the arts of the African diaspora to local children and teenagers. 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. . Dunham continued to develop dozens of new productions during this period, and the company met with enthusiastic audiences in every city. 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. At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. [5] Along with the Great Migration, came White flight and her aunt Lulu's business suffered and ultimately closed as a result. Never completing her required coursework for her graduate degree, she departed for Broadway and Hollywood. forming a powerful personal. "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". American Anthropologist 122, no. As a graduate student in anthropology in the mid-1930s, she conducted dance research in the Caribbean. Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. Katherine Dunham Quotes On Positivity. [6] At the age of 15, she organized "The Blue Moon Caf", a fundraising cabaret to raise money for Brown's Methodist Church in Joliet, where she gave her first public performance. Fun facts. By Renata Sago. Dancer Born in Illinois #12. On February 22, 2022, Selkirk will offer a unique, one-lot auction titled, Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Ephemera And Documents. . The Katherine Dunham Museum is located at 1005 Pennsylvania Avenue, East St. Louis, Illinois. Such visitors included ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Robert Redfield, Bronisaw Malinowski, A.R. Katherine Dunham got an early bachelor's degree in anthropology as a student at the University of Chicago. Katherine Dunham. One example of this was studying how dance manifests within Haitian Vodou. She did this for many reasons. Corrections? Katherine Dunham, pseudonym Kaye Dunn, (born June 22, 1909, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, U.S.died May 21, 2006, New York, New York), American dancer and choreographer who was a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology. Episode 5 of Break the FACTS! In the mid-1930s she conducted anthropological research on dance and incorporated her findings into her choreography, blending the rhythms and movements of . She also appeared in the Broadway musicals "Bal . Katherine Dunham. Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life. Keep reading for more such interesting quotes at Kidadl!) [18] to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master's degree. He was only one of a number of international celebrities who were Dunham's friends. 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. She is known for her many innovations, one of her most known . Katherine Dunham was born on the 22nd of June, 1909 in Chicago before she was taken by her parents to their hometown at Glen Ellyn in Illinois. Katherine Dunham, it includes photographs highlighting the many dimensions of Dunham's life and work. In 1940, she formed the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, which became the premier facility for training dancers. Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. 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. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. 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'. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. Katherine Dunham was an American dancer and choreographer, credited to have brought the influence of Africa and the Caribbean into American dance . The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. This was the beginning of more than 20 years during which Dunham performed with her company almost exclusively outside the United States. Her mission was to help train the Senegalese National Ballet and to assist President Leopold Senghor with arrangements for the First Pan-African World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar (196566). Video. 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. 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. Dunham considered some really important and interesting issues, like how class and race issues translate internationally, being accepted into new communities, different types of being black, etc. 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]. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) brought African dance aesthetics to the United States, forever influencing modern and jazz dance. 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. She directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York, and was artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. In 1963 Dunham was commissioned to choreograph Aida at New York's Metropolitan Opera Company, with Leontyne Price in the title role. The show created a minor controversy in the press. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Katherine-Dunham, The Kennedy Center - Biography of Katherine Dunham, Katherine Dunham - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. She was a pioneer of Dance Anthropology, established methodologies of ethnochoreology, and her work gives essential historical context to current conversations and practices of decolonization within and outside of the discipline of anthropology. 3 (1992): 24. 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. [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. There, he ran a dry cleaning business in a place mostly occupied by white people. In 1939, Dunham's company gave additional performances in Chicago and Cincinnati and then returned to New York. The PATC teaching staff was made up of former members of Dunham's touring company, as well as local residents. "In introducing authentic African dance-movements to her company and audiences, Dunhamperhaps more than any other choreographer of the timeexploded the possibilities of modern dance expression.". Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. One of her fellow professors, with whom she collaborated, was architect Buckminster Fuller. International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, First Pan-African World Festival of Negro Arts, National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame, "Katherine Dunham | African American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist", "Timeline: The Katherine Dunham Collection at the Library of Congress (Performing Arts Encyclopedia, The Library of Congress)", "Special Presentation: Katherine Dunham Timeline". At the recommendation of her mentor Melville Herskovits, PhB'20a Northwestern University anthropologist and African studies expertDunham's calling cards read both "dancer" and . 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. Chin, Elizabeth. These experiences provided ample material for the numerous books, articles and short stories Dunham authored. Katherine Dunham. Early in 1936, she arrived in Haiti, where she remained for several months, the first of her many extended stays in that country through her life. She was a woman far ahead of her time. Her mother passed away when Katherine was only 3 years old. Initially scheduled for a single performance, the show was so popular that the troupe repeated it for another ten Sundays. The program she created runs to this day at the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, revolutionizing lives with dance and culture. [3] She created many all-black dance groups. She did not complete the other requirements for that degree, however, as she realized that her professional calling was performance and choreography. [60], However, this decision did not keep her from engaging with and highly influencing the discipline for the rest of her life and beyond. VV A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, editors, Joliet Central High School Yearbook, 1928. Katherine Dunham, was published in a limited, numbered edition of 130 copies by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. Banks, Ojeya Cruz. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 2 (2020): 259271. Her technique was "a way of life". She also continued refining and teaching the Dunham Technique to transmit that knowledge to succeeding generations of dance students. . In 1978, an anthology of writings by and about her, also entitled Kaiso! On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Katherine Dunham in a photograph from around 1945. Alvin Ailey later produced a tribute for her in 198788 at Carnegie Hall with his American Dance Theater, entitled The Magic of Katherine Dunham. Commonly grouped into the realm of modern dance techniques, Dunham is a technical dance form developed from elements of indigenous African and Afro-Caribbean dances. 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. 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. The Katherine Dunham Company toured throughout North America in the mid-1940s, performing as well in the racially segregated South. 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. "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' [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. 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 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. Dunham also studied ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page, who became prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera. ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). Claude Conyers, "Film Choreography by Katherine Dunham, 19391964," in Clark and Johnson. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . [61][62][63][64] During this time, in addition to Dunham, numerous Black women such as Zora Neal Hurston, Caroline Bond Day, Irene Diggs, and Erna Brodber were also working to transform the discipline into an anthropology of liberation: employing critical and creative cultural production.[54]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 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. Born in 1512 to Sir Thomas Parr, lord of the manor of Kendal in Westmorland, and Maud Green, an heiress and courtier, Catherine belonged to a family of substantial influence in the north. She was likely named after Catherine of Aragon. and creative team that lasted. 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. A carriage house on the grounds is to . 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]. 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. Book. [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. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) By Halifu Osumare Katherine Dunham was a world famous dancer, choreographer, author, anthropologist, social activist, and humanitarian. Fighting, Alive, Have Faith. Katherine was also an activist, author, educator, and anthropologist. Born Katherine Coleman in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia . In her biography, Joyce Aschenbrenner (2002), credits Ms Dunham as the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance", and describes her work as: "fundamentally . However, it has now became a common practice within the discipline. Katherine Dunham. 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. [54] Her dance education, while offering cultural resources for dealing with the consequences and realities of living in a racist environment, also brought about feelings of hope and dignity for inspiring her students to contribute positively to their own communities, and spreading essential cultural and spiritual capital within the U.S.[54], Just like her colleague Zora Neale Hurston, Dunham's anthropology inspired the blurring of lines between creative disciplines and anthropology. She majored in anthropology at the University of Chicago, and after learning that much of Black . 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 a huge collection of writings by and about Katherine Dunham, so it naturally covered a lot of area. [1] She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US. The Katherine Dunham Fund buys and adapts for use as a museum an English Regency-style townhouse on Pennsylvania Avenue at Tenth Street in East Saint Louis. This led to a custody battle over Katherine and her brother, brought on by their maternal relatives. 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. At the age of 82, Dunham went on a hunger strike in . This meant neither of the children were able to settle into a home for a few years. Barrelhouse. Dunham early became interested in dance. During her studies, Dunham attended a lecture on anthropology, where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. Others who attended her school included James Dean, Gregory Peck, Jose Ferrer, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. However, after her father remarried, Albert Sr. and his new wife, Annette Poindexter Dunham, took in Katherine and her brother. He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. By 1957, Dunham was under severe personal strain, which was affecting her health. Digital Library. After her company performed successfully, Dunham was chosen as dance director of the Chicago Negro Theater Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. This initiative drew international publicity to the plight of the Haitian boat-people and U.S. discrimination against them. Glory Van Scott and Jean-Lon Destin were among other former Dunham dancers who remained her lifelong friends. Question 2. She taught dance lessons to help pay for her education at the University of Chicago. [2] Most of Dunham's works previewed many questions essential to anthropology's postmodern turn, such as critiquing understandings of modernity, interpretation, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism. Dunham married Jordis McCoo, a black postal worker, in 1931, but he did not share her interests and they gradually drifted apart, finally divorcing in 1938. As Wendy Perron wrote, "Jazz dance, 'fusion,' and the search for our cultural identity all have their antecedents in Dunham's work as a dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. Despite 13 knee surgeries, Ms. Dunham danced professionally for more than . Classes are led by Ruby Streate, director of dance and education and artistic director of the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. Dancer, anthropologist, social worker, activist, author. Encouraged by Speranzeva to focus on modern dance instead of ballet, Dunham opened her first dance school in 1933, calling it the Negro Dance Group. In 1931, at the age of 21, Dunham formed a group called Ballets Ngres, one of the first black ballet companies in the United States. Example. 1. Example. Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. A fictional work based on her African experiences, Kasamance: A Fantasy, was published in 1974. Name: Mae C. Jemison. When you have faith in something, it's your reason to be alive and to fight for it. Luminaries like Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Katherine Dunham began to shape and define what this new genre of dance would be. 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. Her many original works include Lagya, Shango and Bal Negre. Q. Katherine Mary Dun ham was an African-American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. [28] Strongly founded in her anthropological research in the Caribbean, Dunham technique introduces rhythm as the backbone of various widely known modern dance principles including contraction and release,[29] groundedness, fall and recover,[30] counterbalance, and many more. Dunham Technique was created by Katherine Dunham, a legend in the worlds of dance and anthropology. She wrote that he "opened the floodgates of anthropology" for her. [1] The Dunham Technique is still taught today. As a result, Dunham would later experience some diplomatic "difficulties" on her tours. Even in retirement Dunham continued to choreograph: one of her major works was directing the premiere full, posthumous production Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha in 1972, a joint production of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Morehouse College chorus in Atlanta, conducted by Robert Shaw. The restructuring of heavy industry had caused the loss of many working-class jobs, and unemployment was high in the city. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. ", "Kaiso! Katherine Dunham Facts that are Fun!!! 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. Not only did Dunham shed light on the cultural value of black dance, but she clearly contributed to changing perceptions of blacks in America by showing society that as a black woman, she could be an intelligent scholar, a beautiful dancer, and a skilled choreographer. Birth Year: 1956. He needn't have bothered. Photo provided by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Morris Library Special Collections Research Center. He lived on 5 January 1931 and passed away on 1 December 1989. [54] Her legacy within Anthropology and Dance Anthropology continues to shine with each new day. Transforming Anthropology 20 (2012): 159168. She choreographed for Broadway stage productions and operaincluding Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. for teaching dance that is still la'ag'ya , Shange , Veraruzana, nanigo. ", 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.". Actress: Star Spangled Rhythm. Katherine Johnson, ne Katherine Coleman, also known as (1939-56) Katherine Goble, (born August 26, 1918, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, U.S.died February 24, 2020, Newport News, Virginia), American mathematician who calculated and analyzed the flight paths of many spacecraft during her more than three decades with the U.S. space program. Katherine Dunham, pseudonym Kaye Dunn, (born June 22, 1909, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, U.S.died May 21, 2006, New York, New York), American dancer and choreographer who was a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology. She had one of the most successful dance careers in Western dance theatre in the 20th century and directed her own dance company for many years. Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. Beda Schmid. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it's a safe place for kids . On graduating with a bachelors degree in anthropology she undertook field studies in the Caribbean and in Brazil. 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. "Kaiso! Her field work in the Caribbean began in Jamaica, where she lived for several months in the remote Maroon village of Accompong, deep in the mountains of Cockpit Country. [6][10] While still a high school student, she opened a private dance school for young black children. It was not a success, closing after only eight performances. (She later took a Ph.D. in anthropology.) Kaiso is an Afro-Caribbean term denoting praise. Katherine Dunham is credited Her dance troupe in venues around. Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. Video. Dunham also created the well-known Dunham Technique [1]. The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. [4], Katherine Mary Dunham was born on 22 June 1909 in a Chicago hospital. Last Name Dunham #5. As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "anthropology became a life-way"[2] for Dunham. Intrigued by this theory, Dunham began to study African roots of dance and, in 1935, she traveled to the Caribbean for field research. Regarding her impact and effect he wrote: "The rise of American Negro dance commenced when Katherine Dunham and her company skyrocketed into the Windsor Theater in New York, from Chicago in 1940, and made an indelible stamp on the dance world Miss Dunham opened the doors that made possible the rapid upswing of this dance for the present generation." Dunham passed away on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at the age of 96. In August she was awarded a bachelor's degree, a Ph.B., bachelor of philosophy, with her principal area of study being social anthropology. Ruth Page had written a scenario and choreographed La Guiablesse ("The Devil Woman"), based on a Martinican folk tale in Lafcadio Hearn's Two Years in the French West Indies. In 1966, she served as a State Department representative for the United States to the first ever World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal. 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. Numerous scholars describe Dunham as pivotal to the fields of Dance Education, Applied Anthropology, Humanistic Anthropology, African Diasporic Anthropology and Liberatory Anthropology. Much of the literature calls upon researchers to go beyond bureaucratic protocols to protect communities from harm, but rather use their research to benefit communities that they work with.
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