"Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". Kraut, Anthea. 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. [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. Updates? 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'. In 1963, Dunham became the first African-American to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera. [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. Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. Birth Year: 1956. During her studies, Dunham attended a lecture on anthropology, where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. She was a woman far ahead of her time. Katherine Dunham introduced African and Caribbean rhythms to modern dance. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. Biography. [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]. 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. for teaching dance that is still la'ag'ya , Shange , Veraruzana, nanigo. 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. Dunham also studied ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page, who became prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera. Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. She did not complete the other requirements for that degree, however, as she realized that her professional calling was performance and choreography. 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. Fun Facts. "The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn: Sociocultural Anthropology in 2019." Born in 1909 #28. From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. 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. Also Known For : . As a choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of dance in the twentieth century. Chin, Elizabeth. There, he ran a dry cleaning business in a place mostly occupied by white people. He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. It was a huge collection of writings by and about Katherine Dunham, so it naturally covered a lot of area. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. 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 Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 May 21, 2006)[1] was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Example. In 1940, she formed the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, which became the premier facility for training dancers. While a student at the University of Chicago, she formed a dance group that performed in concert at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1934 and with the Chicago Civic Opera company in 193536. Her mother passed away when Katherine was only 3 years old. She also choreographed and starred in dance sequences in such films as Carnival of Rhythm (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), and Casbah (1947). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. 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. 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. 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. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190264871.003.0001, "Dunham Technique: Fall and recovery with body roll", "Katherine Dunham on need for Dunham Technique", "The Negro Problem in a Class Society: 19511960 Brazil", "Katherine Dunham, Dance Icon, Dies at 96", "Candace Award Recipients 19821990, Page 1", "Katherine the Great: 2004 Lifetime Achievement Awardee Katherine Dunham", Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology, Katherine Dunham on her anthropological films, Guide to the Photograph Collection on Katherine Dunham, Katherine Dunham's oral history video excerpts, "Katherine Dunham on Overcoming 1940s Racism", Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, Recalling Choreographer and Activist Dunham, "How Katherine Dunham Revealed Black Dance to the World", Katherine Dunham, Dance Pioneer, Dies at 96, "On Stage and Backstage withTalented Katherine Dunham, Master Dance Designer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katherine_Dunham&oldid=1139015494, American people of French-Canadian descent, 20th-century African-American politicians, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In 1971 she received the Heritage Award from the, In 1983 she was a recipient of one of the highest artistic awards in the United States, the. 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. Jeff Dunham hails from Dallas, Texas. Time reported that, "she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the U.S.'s forced repatriation of Haitian refugees. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. [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. "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' 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. Dunham is still taught at widely recognized dance institutions such as The American Dance Festival and The Ailey School. This was followed by television spectaculars filmed in London, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, and Mexico City. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. "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.". In Boston, then a bastion of conservatism, the show was banned in 1944 after only one performance. [20] She recorded her findings through ethnographic fieldnotes and by learning dance techniques, music and song, alongside her interlocutors. [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. 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. Video. 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. [26] This work was never produced in Joplin's lifetime, but since the 1970s, it has been successfully produced in many venues. [11], During her time in Chicago, Dunham enjoyed holding social gatherings and inviting visitors to her apartment. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. Video. In 1921, a short story she wrote when she was 12 years old, called "Come Back to Arizona", was published in volume 2 of The Brownies' Book. In the 1970s, scholars of Anthropology such as Dell Hymes and William S. Willis began to discuss Anthropology's participation in scientific colonialism. 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. She also continued refining and teaching the Dunham Technique to transmit that knowledge to succeeding generations of dance students. By 1957, Dunham was under severe personal strain, which was affecting her health. When she was not performing, Dunham and Pratt often visited Haiti for extended stays. 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. She built her own dance empire and was hailed as the queen of black dance. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. You can't learn about dances until you learn about people. By the time she received an M.A. [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. [41] The State Department was dismayed by the negative view of American society that the ballet presented to foreign audiences. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." . Dance is an essential part of life that has always been with me. As Julia Foulkes pointed out, "Dunham's path to success lay in making high art in the United States from African and Caribbean sources, capitalizing on a heritage of dance within the African Diaspora, and raising perceptions of African American capabilities."[65]. and creative team that lasted. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology through African American Dance Pedagogy." Radcliffe-Brown, Edward Sapir, Melville Herskovits, Lloyd Warner and Bronisaw Malinowski. In 19341936, Dunham performed as a guest artist with the ballet company of the Chicago Opera. 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. 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. 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. Dunham Technique was created by Katherine Dunham, a legend in the worlds of dance and anthropology. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance." Example. The school was managed in Dunham's absence by Syvilla Fort, one of her dancers, and thrived for about 10 years. ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). [58] Early on into graduate school, Dunham was forced to choose between finishing her master's degree in anthropology and pursuing her career in dance. Her choreography and performances made use of a concept within Dance Anthropology called "research-to-performance". As a result, Dunham would later experience some diplomatic "difficulties" on her tours. Dunham's dance career first began in Chicago when she joined the Little Theater Company of Harper Avenue. Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. Video. Katherine Dunham Facts that are Fun!!! Dunham early became interested in dance. Fun Facts. 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. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th . [20] She also became friends with, among others, Dumarsais Estim, then a high-level politician, who became president of Haiti in 1949. Born Katherine Coleman in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia . Tune in & learn about the inception of. [50] Both Dunham and the prince denied the suggestion. [54] Her legacy within Anthropology and Dance Anthropology continues to shine with each new day. Dunham is credited with introducing international audiences to African aesthetics and establishing African dance as a true art form. Choreographer. 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. 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. Through much study and time, she eventually became one of the founders of the field of dance anthropology. In 1992, at age 83, Dunham went on a highly publicized hunger strike to protest the discriminatory U.S. foreign policy against Haitian boat-people. You dance because you have to. Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. 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. Her work helped send astronauts to the . A actor. Others who attended her school included James Dean, Gregory Peck, Jose Ferrer, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. Corrections? Cruz Banks, Ojeya. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. 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. Please scroll down to enjoy more supporting materials. While in Haiti, Dunham investigated Vodun rituals and made extensive research notes, particularly on the dance movements of the participants. Members of Dunham's last New York Company auditioned to become members of the Met Ballet Company. Initially scheduled for a single performance, the show was so popular that the troupe repeated it for another ten Sundays. He lived on 5 January 1931 and passed away on 1 December 1989. Additionally, she was named one of the most influential African American anthropologists. [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. [34], According to Dunham, the development of her technique came out of a need for specialized dancers to support her choreographic visions and a greater yearning for technique that "said the things that [she] wanted to say. Classes are led by Ruby Streate, director of dance and education and artistic director of the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. Some Facts. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . He was the founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. used throughout the world choros, rite de passage, los Idies, and. The program included courses in dance, drama, performing arts, applied skills, humanities, cultural studies, and Caribbean research. As I document in my book Katherine Dunham: Dance and the . This initiative drew international publicity to the plight of the Haitian boat-people and U.S. discrimination against them. ", "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. [17] She was one of the first African-American women to attend this college and to earn these degrees. Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. [6][10] While still a high school student, she opened a private dance school for young black children. In 1986 the American Anthropological Association gave her a Distinguished Service Award. Omissions? 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 age of 82, Dunham went on a hunger strike in . 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. Dunham early became interested in dance. Katherine Dunham facts for kids. Katherine Dunham is the inventor of the Dunham technique and a renowned dancer and choreographer of African-American descent. 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 family moved to Joliet, Illinois when her father remarried. Dunham technique is a codified dance training technique developed by Katherine Dunham in the mid 20th century. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". movement and expression. [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". But Dunham, who was Black and held a doctorate in anthropology, had hoped to spur a "cultural awakening on the East Side," she told . The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. In the mid-1930s she conducted anthropological research on dance and incorporated her findings into her choreography, blending the rhythms and movements of . 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. Interesting facts. The schools she created helped train such notables as Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins in the "Dunham technique." Death . 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. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. He was only one of a number of international celebrities who were Dunham's friends. Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. Marlon Brando frequently dropped in to play the bongo drums, and jazz musician Charles Mingus held regular jam sessions with the drummers. Claude Conyers, "Film Choreography by Katherine Dunham, 19391964," in Clark and Johnson. 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.

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