[17] She was one of the first African-American women to attend this college and to earn these degrees. Question 2. In 1939, Dunham's company gave additional performances in Chicago and Cincinnati and then returned to New York. Katherine Dunham PhB'36. The show created a minor controversy in the press. "The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn: Sociocultural Anthropology in 2019." Katherine Dunham. Dunham's dance career first began in Chicago when she joined the Little Theater Company of Harper Avenue. ", "Kaiso! But Dunham, who was Black and held a doctorate in anthropology, had hoped to spur a "cultural awakening on the East Side," she told . As a student, she studied under anthropologists such as A.R. ", "Dunham's European success led to considerable imitation of her work in European revues it is safe to say that the perspectives of concert-theatrical dance in Europe were profoundly affected by the performances of the Dunham troupe. 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. In 1963, Dunham became the first African-American to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera. You dance because you have to. Johnson 's gift for numbers allowed her to accelerate through her education. (She later wrote Journey to Accompong, a book describing her experiences there.) Died: May 21, 2006. Name: Mae C. Jemison. 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. Last Name Dunham #5. At the recommendation of her mentor Melville Herskovits, PhB'20a Northwestern University anthropologist and African studies expertDunham's calling cards read both "dancer" and . 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. As I document in my book Katherine Dunham: Dance and the . [20] She also became friends with, among others, Dumarsais Estim, then a high-level politician, who became president of Haiti in 1949. Othella Dallas, 93, still teaches Katherine Dunham technique, which she learned from Dunham herself. Text:. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. Video. Fun facts. 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. 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. Some Facts. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. 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. First Name Katherine #37. theatrical designers john pratt. In 1978, an anthology of writings by and about her, also entitled Kaiso! She is a celebrity dancer. 30 seconds. In 1976, Dunham was guest artist-in-residence and lecturer for Afro-American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Dunham was active in human rights causes, and in 1992 she staged a 47-day hunger strike to highlight the plight of Haitian refugees. In December 1951, a photo of Dunham dancing with Ismaili Muslim leader Prince Ali Khan at a private party he had hosted for her in Paris appeared in a popular magazine and fueled rumors that the two were romantically linked. Katherine Dunham always had an interest in dance and anthropology so her main goal in life was to combine them. In Boston, then a bastion of conservatism, the show was banned in 1944 after only one performance. The program included courses in dance, drama, performing arts, applied skills, humanities, cultural studies, and Caribbean research. 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. [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 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]. . Fun Facts. 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. She also choreographed and starred in dance sequences in such films as Carnival of Rhythm (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), and Casbah (1947). Search input Search submit button. 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." [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. After he became her artistic collaborator, they became romantically involved. [15], In 1935, Dunham was awarded travel fellowships from the Julius Rosenwald and Guggenheim foundations to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad studying the dance forms of the Caribbean. The PATC teaching staff was made up of former members of Dunham's touring company, as well as local residents. 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 . [54] Her legacy within Anthropology and Dance Anthropology continues to shine with each new day. [14] For example, she was highly influenced both by Sapir's viewpoint on culture being made up of rituals, beliefs, customs and artforms, and by Herkovits' and Redfield's studies highlighting links between African and African American cultural expression. See "Selected Bibliography of Writings by Katherine Dunham" in Clark and Johnson. Banks, Ojeya Cruz. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. 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. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 May 21, 2006)[1] was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it's a safe place for kids . Dunham is still taught at widely recognized dance institutions such as The American Dance Festival and The Ailey School. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Fun Facts. and creative team that lasted. As this show continued its run at the Windsor Theater, Dunham booked her own company in the theater for a Sunday performance. Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. Throughout her distinguished career, Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. In August she was awarded a bachelor's degree, a Ph.B., bachelor of philosophy, with her principal area of study being social anthropology. 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. In particular, Dunham is a model for the artist as activist. Members of Dunham's last New York Company auditioned to become members of the Met Ballet Company. Katherine Dunham in a photograph from around 1945. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. However, after her father remarried, Albert Sr. and his new wife, Annette Poindexter Dunham, took in Katherine and her brother. The 1940s and 1950s saw the successors to the pioneers, give rise to such new stylistic variations through the work of artistic giants such as Jos Limn and Merce Cunningham. Barrelhouse. It was not a success, closing after only eight performances. Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. [4], Katherine Mary Dunham was born on 22 June 1909 in a Chicago hospital. 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 died on May 21 2006. Although Dunham was offered another grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to pursue her academic studies, she chose dance. Tune in & learn about the inception of. On February 22, 2022, Selkirk will offer a unique, one-lot auction titled, Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Ephemera And Documents. The group performed Dunham's Negro Rhapsody at the Chicago Beaux Arts Ball. As celebrities, their voices can have a profound influence on popular culture. As a graduate student in anthropology in the mid-1930s, she conducted dance research in the Caribbean. [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". Transforming Anthropology 20 (2012): 159168. "[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. Cruz Banks, Ojeya. Lyndon B. Johnson was in the audience for opening night. In 1964, Dunham settled in East St. Louis, and took up the post of artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University in nearby Edwardsville. [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. Katherine Dunham. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. Transforming Anthropology 20, no. Katherine Dunham got an early bachelor's degree in anthropology as a student at the University of Chicago. Example. 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. Others who attended her school included James Dean, Gregory Peck, Jose Ferrer, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. 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. 8 Katherine Dunham facts. According to the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, Dunham never thought she'd have a career in dance, although she did study with ballerina and choreographer Ruth Page, among others. 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. [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. 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. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200003840/. Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) By Das, Joanna Dee. 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. Her alumni included many future celebrities, such as Eartha Kitt. Katherine returnedto to the usa in 1931 miss Dunham met one of. [ ] Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909 (age 96) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, United States. In the mid-1950s, Dunham and her company appeared in three films: Mambo (1954), made in Italy; Die Grosse Starparade (1954), made in Germany; and Msica en la Noche (1955), made in Mexico City. Her father was a descendant of slaves from West Africa, and her mother was a mix of French-Canadian and Native-American heritage. ", 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.". Through much study and time, she eventually became one of the founders of the field of dance anthropology. She was hailed for her smooth and fluent choreography and dominated a stage with what has been described as 'an unmitigating radiant force providing beauty with a feminine touch full of variety and nuance. Katherine Dunham, it includes photographs highlighting the many dimensions of Dunham's life and work. However, it has now became a common practice within the discipline. 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. 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 . In 2004 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from, In 2005, she was awarded "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research" by the. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology Through African American Dance Pedagogy." [7] The family moved to a predominantly white neighborhood in Joliet, Illinois. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist [1]. 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. 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. 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. The Washington Post called her "dancer Katherine the Great." June 22 Dancer #4. Katherine Dunham. 2023 The HistoryMakers. She . Example. Classes are led by Ruby Streate, director of dance and education and artistic director of the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. . THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. Katherine Dunham Quotes On Positivity. 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. Birth Year: 1956. [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. This gained international headlines and the embarrassed local police officials quickly released her. Pas de Deux from "L'Ag'Ya". for teaching dance that is still la'ag'ya , Shange , Veraruzana, nanigo. International dance icon Katherine Dunham (right,) also an anthropologist, founded an art museum in East St. Louis, IL. He had been a promising philosophy professor at Howard University and a protg of Alfred North Whitehead. Choreographer. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. He was the founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. Dunham created Rara Tonga and Woman with a Cigar at this time, which became well known. Alumnae include Eartha Kitt, Marlon Brando and Julie Belafonte. She decided to live for a year in relative isolation in Kyoto, Japan, where she worked on writing memoirs of her youth. He continued as her artistic collaborator until his death in 1986. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . ..American Anthropologist.. 112, no. 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. Dunham technique is a codified dance training technique developed by Katherine Dunham in the mid 20th century. Time reported that, "she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the U.S.'s forced repatriation of Haitian refugees. 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. Dunham became interested in both writing and dance at a young age. In the summer of 1941, after the national tour of Cabin in the Sky ended, they went to Mexico, where inter-racial marriages were less controversial than in the United States, and engaged in a commitment ceremony on 20 July, which thereafter they gave as the date of their wedding. [5] Along with the Great Migration, came White flight and her aunt Lulu's business suffered and ultimately closed as a result. Katherine Dunham, a world-renowned dancer and choreographer, had big plans for East St. Louis in 1977. informed by new methods of america's most highly regarded. Dunhams writings, sometimes published under the pseudonym Kaye Dunn, include Katherine Dunhams Journey to Accompong (1946), an account of her anthropological studies in Jamaica; A Touch of Innocence (1959), an autobiography; Island Possessed (1969); and several articles for popular and scholarly journals. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic for The New York Times, called Dunham "a major pioneer in Black theatrical dance ahead of her time." 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. In 1987 she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, and was also inducted into the. Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. In 1938 she joined the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago and composed a ballet, LAgYa, based on Caribbean dance. 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. Dunham is credited with introducing international audiences to African aesthetics and establishing African dance as a true art form. 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 1966, she served as a State Department representative for the United States to the first ever World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal. used throughout the world choros, rite de passage, los Idies, and. 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. Her mother passed away when Katherine was only 3 years old. However, one key reason was that she knew she would be able to reach a broader public through dance, as opposed to the inaccessible institutions of academia. While in Haiti, she hasn't only studied Vodun rituals, but also participated and became a mambo, female high priest in the Vodun religion. 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. Her popular books are Island Possessed (1969), Touch of Innocence (1959), Dances of Haiti (1983), Kaiso! Most Popular #73650. She made national headlines by staging a hunger strike to protest the U.S. governments repatriation policy for Haitian immigrants. In 1963 Dunham was commissioned to choreograph Aida at New York's Metropolitan Opera Company, with Leontyne Price in the title role. 2 (2012): 159168. In the 1970s, scholars of Anthropology such as Dell Hymes and William S. Willis began to discuss Anthropology's participation in scientific colonialism. The restructuring of heavy industry had caused the loss of many working-class jobs, and unemployment was high in the city. After noticing that Katherine enjoyed working and socializing with people, her brother suggested that she study Anthropology. This led to a custody battle over Katherine and her brother, brought on by their maternal relatives. 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." 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. Leverne Backstrom, president of the board of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, still does. The living Dunham tradition has persisted. 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). "My job", she said, "is to create a useful legacy. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance." The incident was widely discussed in the Brazilian press and became a hot political issue. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. 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. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . She choreographed for Broadway stage productions and operaincluding Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. [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,. Claude Conyers, "Film Choreography by Katherine Dunham, 19391964," in Clark and Johnson. 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. She arranged a fundraising cabaret for a Methodist Church, where she did her first public performance when she was 15 years old. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Born in 1909 #28. Back in the United States she formed an all-black dance troupe, which in 1940 performed her Tropics and Le Jazz . Katherine Johnson graduated from college at age 18. "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,". ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. 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. London: Zed Books, 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Dancer. ((Photographer unknown, Courtesy of Missouri History Museum Photograph and Prints collection. 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. 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. With Dunham in the sultry role of temptress Georgia Brown, the show ran for 20 weeks in New York. She expressed a hope that time and the "war for tolerance and democracy" (this was during World War II) would bring a change. The company soon embarked on a tour of venues in South America, Europe, and North Africa. [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]. [1] Dunham also created the Dunham Technique. [60], However, this decision did not keep her from engaging with and highly influencing the discipline for the rest of her life and beyond. Katherine Dunham on dance anthropology. [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. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 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. Beda Schmid. The Katherine Dunham Company toured throughout North America in the mid-1940s, performing as well in the racially segregated South. These experiences provided ample material for the numerous books, articles and short stories Dunham authored. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." 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". 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. She was one of the first researchers in anthropology to use her research of Afro-Haitian dance and culture for remedying racist misrepresentation of African culture in the miseducation of Black Americans. Jobson, Ryan Cecil. Early in 1947 Dunham choreographed the musical play Windy City, which premiered at the Great Northern Theater in Chicago. [16], After her research tour of the Caribbean in 1935, Dunham returned to Chicago in the late spring of 1936. [20] She recorded her findings through ethnographic fieldnotes and by learning dance techniques, music and song, alongside her interlocutors. By 1957, Dunham was under severe personal strain, which was affecting her health. Katherine Dunham Facts that are Fun!!! He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. Born in Glen Ellyn, IL #6.
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