Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Glory Van Scott and Jean-Lon Destin were among other former Dunham dancers who remained her lifelong friends. 8 Katherine Dunham facts - Katherine dunham Luminaries like Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Katherine Dunham began to shape and define what this new genre of dance would be. Katherine Mary Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909. A fictional work based on her African experiences, Kasamance: A Fantasy, was published in 1974. In 1963, Dunham became the first African-American to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera. Biography. [17] She was one of the first African-American women to attend this college and to earn these degrees. 7 Katherine Dunham facts. Photo provided by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Morris Library Special Collections Research Center. 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. Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz Dance | Jazz Dance: A History of the In my mind, it's the most fascinating thing in the world to learn".[19]. 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. Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Archive - Selkirk Auctioneers Intrigued by this theory, Dunham began to study African roots of dance and, in 1935, she traveled to the Caribbean for field research. 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. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. 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. 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". The company returned to New York. She decided to live for a year in relative isolation in Kyoto, Japan, where she worked on writing memoirs of her youth. Dunham also received a grant to work with Professor Melville Herskovits of Northwestern University, whose ideas about retention of African culture among African Americans served as a base for her research in the Caribbean. 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. They were stranded without money because of bad management by their impresario. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. [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 | YourDictionary In 1976, Dunham was guest artist-in-residence and lecturer for Afro-American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Born in Glen Ellyn, IL #6. [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. "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.". ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . For almost 30 years she maintained the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the only self-supported American black dance troupe at that time. In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. 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. [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. 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 . Anthropology News 33, no. At the recommendation of her mentor Melville Herskovits, PhB'20a Northwestern University anthropologist and African studies expertDunham's calling cards read both "dancer" and . 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. and creative team that lasted. The school was managed in Dunham's absence by Syvilla Fort, one of her dancers, and thrived for about 10 years. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [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]. [35] In a different interview, Dunham describes her technique "as a way of life,[36]" a sentiment that seems to be shared by many of her admiring students. 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. From the 40s to the 60s, Dunham and her dance troupe toured to 57 countries of the world. ", Richard Buckle, ballet historian and critic, wrote: "Her company of magnificent dancers and musicians met with the success it has and that herself as explorer, thinker, inventor, organizer, and dancer should have reached a place in the estimation of the world, has done more than a million pamphlets could for the service of her people. [49] In fact, that ceremony was not recognized as a legal marriage in the United States, a point of law that would come to trouble them some years later. 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. Katherine Dunham is credited Her dance troupe in venues around. Beautiful, Justice, Black. Her father was given a number of important positions at court . Somewhat later, she assisted him, at considerable risk to her life, when he was persecuted for his progressive policies and sent in exile to Jamaica after a coup d'tat. Lyndon B. Johnson was in the audience for opening night. New York City, U.S. This led to a custody battle over Katherine and her brother, brought on by their maternal relatives. These experiences provided ample material for the numerous books, articles and short stories Dunham authored. 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. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . In 2000 Katherine Dunham was named America's irreplaceable Dance Treasure. Video. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance." He was the founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. [26] This work was never produced in Joplin's lifetime, but since the 1970s, it has been successfully produced in many venues. She wanted to know not only how people danced but why they dance. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] [2] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. Cruz Banks, Ojeya. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, creator of the Dunham Technique, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. Katherine Dunham : Dance and the African Diaspora - Google Books ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". Katherine Dunham | Encyclopedia.com Childhood & Early Life. She did this for many reasons. In September 1943, under the management of the impresario Sol Hurok, her troupe opened in Tropical Review at the Martin Beck Theater. A photographic exhibit honoring her achievements, entitled Kaiso! Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200003840/. First Name Katherine #37. Dancer Born in Illinois #12. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. 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. 6 Katherine Dunham facts. Dana McBroom-Manno still teaches Dunham Technique in New York City and is a Master of Dunham Technique. 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. 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: Dance and the African Diaspora - Goodreads Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. [4] In 1938, using materials collected ethnographic fieldwork, Dunham submitted a thesis, The Dances of Haiti: A Study of Their Material Aspect, Organization, Form, and Function,. 10 Facts About Katherine Johnson - Mental Floss . THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. There, he ran a dry cleaning business in a place mostly occupied by white people. Example. Radcliffe-Brown, Edward Sapir, Melville Herskovits, Lloyd Warner and Bronisaw Malinowski. She arranged a fundraising cabaret for a Methodist Church, where she did her first public performance when she was 15 years old. Two Avant-Garde Women Who Took Big Risks in Chicago's Art Scene "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' In 2004 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from, In 2005, she was awarded "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research" by the. The Katherine Dunham Company toured throughout North America in the mid-1940s, performing as well in the racially segregated South. In 1978, an anthology of writings by and about her, also entitled Kaiso! A continuation based on her experiences in Haiti, Island Possessed, was published in 1969. Her the best movie is Casbah. Katherine Dunham - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays 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. Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life. In August she was awarded a bachelor's degree, a Ph.B., bachelor of philosophy, with her principal area of study being social anthropology. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. [20] She also became friends with, among others, Dumarsais Estim, then a high-level politician, who became president of Haiti in 1949. katherine dunham fun facts Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology. Most Popular #73650. Katherine Dunham Biography, Life, Interesting Facts [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. Black Joy, Black Power: Dancing the Legacy of Katherine Dunham On another occasion, in October 1944, after getting a rousing standing ovation in Louisville, Kentucky, she told the all-white audience that she and her company would not return because "your management will not allow people like you to sit next to people like us." "[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. It closed after only 38 performances. She was born on June 22, 1909 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small . Katherine Dunham - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dunham early became interested in dance. Dunham was both a popular entertainer and a serious artist intent on tracing the roots of Black culture. She returned to graduate school and submitted a master's thesis to the anthropology faculty. Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. A carriage house on the grounds is to . 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". She also choreographed and starred in dance sequences in such films as Carnival of Rhythm (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), and Casbah (1947). It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. Fun facts about Julie Belafonte brought to you by IDTC! Text: Julie The Katherine Dunham Museum is located at 1005 Pennsylvania Avenue, East St. Louis, Illinois. Othella Dallas, 93, still teaches Katherine Dunham technique, which she learned from Dunham herself. [9] In high school she joined the Terpsichorean Club and began to learn a kind of modern dance based on the ideas of Europeans [mile Jaques-Dalcroze] and [Rudolf von Laban]. Corrections? Dunham Company member Dana McBroom-Manno was selected as a featured artist in the show, which played on the Music Fair Circuit. 3 (1992): 24. 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. Classes are led by Ruby Streate, director of dance and education and artistic director of the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. 4 (December 2010): 640642. [14] Redfield, Herskovits, and Sapir's contributions to cultural anthropology, exposed Dunham to topics and ideas that inspired her creatively and professionally. Never completing her required coursework for her graduate degree, she departed for Broadway and Hollywood. [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. Who Is Katherine Dunham? | GCU Blogs Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) By Das, Joanna Dee. 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. Gender: Female. Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. [12] Katherine Dunham Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com 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. Birth City: Decatur. Chin, Elizabeth. [13] Under their tutelage, she showed great promise in her ethnographic studies of dance. The committee voted unanimously to award $2,400 (more than $40,000 in today's money) to support her fieldwork in the Caribbean. Katherine Dunham - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family - Sticky Facts She was born on June 22, 1909 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago, to Albert Millard Dunham, a tailor and dry cleaner, and his wife, Fanny June Dunham. Katherine Dunham: The Artist as Activist | Center for the Humanities Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. Dunham was always a formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination. Katherine Johnson graduated from college at age 18. Katherine Dunham predated, pioneered, and demonstrated new ways of doing and envisioning Anthropology six decades ahead of the discipline. Her dance company was provided with rent-free studio space for three years by an admirer and patron, Lee Shubert; it had an initial enrollment of 350 students. 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. 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. Omissions? This was the beginning of more than 20 years during which Dunham performed with her company almost exclusively outside the United States. But what set her work even further apart from Martha Graham and Jos Limn was her fusion of that foundation with Afro-Caribbean styles. [11], During her time in Chicago, Dunham enjoyed holding social gatherings and inviting visitors to her apartment. ", Scholar of the arts Harold Cruse wrote in 1964: "Her early and lifelong search for meaning and artistic values for black people, as well as for all peoples, has motivated, created opportunities for, and launched careers for generations of young black artists Afro-American dance was usually in the avant-garde of modern dance Dunham's entire career spans the period of the emergence of Afro-American dance as a serious art. A Short Danceography: Katherine Dunham - YouTube Katherine Dunham Birthday & Fun Facts | Kidadl 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. Video. One of her fellow professors, with whom she collaborated, was architect Buckminster Fuller. Over her long career, she choreographed more than ninety individual dances. Dunham was born in Chicago on June 22, 1909. Who Was Katherine Dunham??? by Adrianne Hoopes - Prezi It opened in Chicago in 1933, with a black cast and with Page dancing the title role. She felt it was necessary to use the knowledge she gained in her research to acknowledge that Africanist esthetics are significant to the cultural equation in American dance. Search input Search submit button. He continued as her artistic collaborator until his death in 1986. Katherine Dunham by:Miracle | Other Quiz - Quizizz Based on this success, the entire company was engaged for the 1940 Broadway production Cabin in the Sky, staged by George Balanchine and starring Ethel Waters. Her legacy was far-reaching, both in dance and her cultural and social work. In Hollywood, Dunham refused to sign a lucrative studio contract when the producer said she would have to replace some of her darker-skinned company members. She wrote that he "opened the floodgates of anthropology" for her. Video footage of Dunham technique classes show a strong emphasis on anatomical alignment, breath, and fluidity. 47 Copy quote. 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. "The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn: Sociocultural Anthropology in 2019." Katherine Dunham in 1956. 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, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) - Routledge Choreographer. 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. Her father, Albert Millard Dunham, was a descendant of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar. As this show continued its run at the Windsor Theater, Dunham booked her own company in the theater for a Sunday performance. Tropics (choreographed 1937) and Le Jazz Hot (1938) were among the earliest of many works based on her research. By the time she received an M.A. The next year, after the US entered World War II, Dunham appeared in the Paramount musical film Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) in a specialty number, "Sharp as a Tack," with Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Died On : May 21, 2006. But Dunham, who was Black and held a doctorate in anthropology, had hoped to spur a "cultural awakening on the East Side," she told . After he became her artistic collaborator, they became romantically involved. Katherine was also an activist, author, educator, and anthropologist. After the tour, in 1945, the Dunham company appeared in the short-lived Blue Holiday at the Belasco Theater in New York, and in the more successful Carib Song at the Adelphi Theatre. Katherine Dunham Facts for Kids In particular, Dunham is a model for the artist as activist. The incident was widely discussed in the Brazilian press and became a hot political issue. In 1937 she traveled with them to New York to take part in A Negro Dance Evening, organized by Edna Guy at the 92nd Street YMHA. [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. Using some ballet vernacular, Dunham incorporates these principles into a set of class exercises she labeled as "processions". On February 22, 2022, Selkirk will offer a unique, one-lot auction titled, Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Ephemera And Documents. 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. Stormy Weather (1943 film) - Wikipedia 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. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. 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. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. [1] She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." [54] This wave continued throughout the 1990s with scholars publishing works (such as Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further in Anthropology for Liberation,[55] Decolonizing Methodologies,[56] and more recently, The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn[57]) that critique anthropology and the discipline's roles in colonial knowledge production and power structures. Beda Schmid. The Dunham company's international tours ended in Vienna in 1960. 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. informed by new methods of america's most highly regarded. [54] Her legacy within Anthropology and Dance Anthropology continues to shine with each new day. The group performed Dunham's Negro Rhapsody at the Chicago Beaux Arts Ball. 1. Katherine Dunham, was published in a limited, numbered edition of 130 copies by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . Kraft from the story by Jerry Horwin and Seymour B. Robinson, directed by Andrew L. Stone, produced by William LeBaron and starring Lena Horne, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Cab Calloway.The film is one of two Hollywood musicals with an African . Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. ", Kraut, Anthea, "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of, This page was last edited on 12 February 2023, at 22:48. [5] Along with the Great Migration, came White flight and her aunt Lulu's business suffered and ultimately closed as a result. Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. She also danced professionally, owned a dance company, and operated a dance studio. 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. Katherine Dunham's Biography - The HistoryMakers The State Department regularly subsidized other less well-known groups, but it consistently refused to support her company (even when it was entertaining U.S. Army troops), although at the same time it did not hesitate to take credit for them as "unofficial artistic and cultural representatives". Alumnae include Eartha Kitt, Marlon Brando and Julie Belafonte. [ ] Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909 (age 96) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, United States. The highly respected Dance magazine did a feature cover story on Dunham in August 2000 entitled "One-Woman Revolution". Dancer, anthropologist, social worker, activist, author. 288 pages, Hardcover. She . 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. VV A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, editors, Joliet Central High School Yearbook, 1928. At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. In 1987 she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, and was also inducted into the. Her work inspired many. Leverne Backstrom, president of the board of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, still does. 52 Copy quote. In 1945, Dunham opened and directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance and Theatre near Times Square in New York City. 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. 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.