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.... Meet extraordinary women who dared to bring gender equality and other issues to the forefront. A portrait of Katherine Dunham looks over the dance studio as students practice during the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop in East St. Louis. Katherine Dunham is reputed as achoreographer, dancer,and performer who was a leading light in the African-American development of modern dance. From overcoming oppression, to breaking rules, to reimagining the world or waging a rebellion, these women of history have a story to tell. Her work as a cultural educator and activist helped forge deeper racial and social understanding in the U.S. and around the world. This is a first-year dance history essay on Katherine Dunham and Alvin Ailey. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Dunham’s writings, sometimes published under the pseudonym Kaye Dunn, include Katherine Dunham’s 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. Katherine Dunham's Southland: Protest in the Face of Repression Constance Valis Hill Introduction The man who truly loves his country is the man who is able to see it in the bad as well as the good and seeing the bad declaim it, at the cost of liberty or life. Donate Now. She produced world tours like a dancer, choreographer, and movie director of her personal dance organization. All rights reserved. Integrating the syncopated rhythms of Haiti, Cuba, Brazil and the Caribbean into American dance, she is credited with inventing the technique of body isolationism and incorporating it into her dance style. The Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop in East St. Louis. Because of the optical phenomenon known as persistence of vision, this gives the illusion of actual, smooth, and continuous movement. 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. After her mother died when she was 4, she and her brother, Albert Jr., moved in with relatives as their father worked as a salesman. At Joliet Township High School (JTHS) back in 1926, Katherine Dunham was known as "Kitten." the Dunham oeuvre, including the Katherine Dunham Dynamic Museum and the Institute for Intercultural Communication at the Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities in East St. Louis, Missouri. – Katherine Dunham. She directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York, and was artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. Our next Dope Queen is Choreographer, Dancer, and Anthropologist Katherine Dunham. Her world-renowned dance company exposed audiences to the diversity of dance from the 1930s-1960s and her New York school brought dance training to a variety of populations. Katherine Mary Dunham (22 June 1909 – 21 May 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator and activist who was trained as an anthropologist. Dancer, anthropologist, social worker, activist, author. A dance student beyond the studio. Katherine Dunham is a Cancer and was born in The Year of the Rooster The style involved flexible torso movements, articulated pelvis and isolation of the limbs, polyrhythm combined with ballet technique. During her tenure, she secured funding for the Performing Arts Training Center, where she introduced a program designed to channel the energy of the community’s youth away from gangs and into dance. Known as the "Matriarch of Black Dance," Katherine Dunham, in the 1930s, founded the first major black modern dance company in … Our next Dope Queen is Choreographer, Dancer, and Anthropologist Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) is famous for being dancer. Katherine Dunham travelled the world for decades as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, scholar, writer, and activist. She made national headlines by staging a hunger strike to protest the U.S. government’s repatriation policy for Haitian immigrants. American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. Katherine Dunham was also well known as a dance historian, scholar, and teacher due to providing presentations using not only photos, films, and writings of various cultures, but she uniquely d emonstrated the cultures’ traditional dances. By Hope Rajala. Two years later she formed an all-black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. Born in 1909 in Chicago, Katherine Dunham is an American dancer-choreographer who is best known for incorporating African American, Caribbean, African, and South American movement styles and themes into her ballets. She currently resides in Glen Ellyn. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in American and European theater of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. After her mother died when she was 4, she and her brother, Albert Jr., moved in with relatives as their father worked as a salesman. She is credited for shaping the modern jazz dance style and technique. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Intrigued by this theory, Dunham began to study African roots of dance and, in 1935, she traveled to the Caribbean for field research. She was known for her fusion of African Dance within modern dance and was called “The Matriarch and Queen Mother of Black Dance.”. One obvious weakness of this essay is that Dunham is covered more extensively than Ailey, but I think she is less known. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. She has She choreographed for Broadway stage productions and opera—including Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. Tropics (choreographed 1937) and Le Jazz Hot (1938) were among the earliest of many works based on her research. Dunham accepted a position at Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis in the 1960s. Editor’s note: This story is adapted from Winter 2016 issue of the University of Chicago Magazine. Her troupe's work, which showcased the rhythms Dunham learned while studying with natives in the Caribbean, helped establish black dance as an art form in its own right. She began dancing early on and also had a passion for writing. Miss Dunham, as she was universally known, was by no means the only dance artist to push for the recognition of black dance in the 1940's, when Pearl Primus pushed, too, … Known as the Matriarch of Black Dance, Katherine Dunham (1909 - 2006) founded the first major black modern dance company in America. From a young age, she was interested in writing and dance. Katherine Dunham is credited for developing one of the most important pedagogues for teaching dance that is still used throughout the world. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated in the University or college of Chicago. Katherine Dunham Net Worth is $1.2 Million Mini Biography. Dunham is best known for bringing dances from various Black traditions to a wider audience on stages in America and around the world. 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 … Katherine Dunham, (pseudonyme Kaye Dunn) [1] née à Glen Ellyn le 24 juin 1909 et morte à New York le 21 mai 2006, est une danseuse, chorégraphe, anthropologue, militante du mouvement des droits civiques, écrivaine, parolière et actrice afro-américaine Biographie. Here, Dunham cultivated her namesake technique—a modern dance style infused with ballet vocabulary and Caribbean folk movement. Her unprecedented blend of cultural anthropology with the artistic genre of dance in the eartly 1930's produced ground breaking forms of movement in the United states. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Brother, Albert Jr. Photo -- Katherine Dunham Dances with Partner in 'Barrelhouse' in Paris (circa 1949), Photo -- Katherine Dunham with Husband, John Pratt, and Daughter, Marie-Christine in Paris (1951), Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Husband, John Pratt, at Hollywood Opening (1953), Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Husband, John Pratt (1938), Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Husband, John Pratt, Photo -- Katherine Dunham Performs 'Guitar Blues' with Partner, Vanoye Aikens (circa 1944), Photo -- Katherine Dunham with Senegalese Percussionist, Mor Thiam, and His Wife, Kine at Katherine Dunham Museum (1972), Photo -- Katherine Dunham with Composer, Eubie Blake, After a Performance of 'Treemonisha' (1972), Photo -- Katherine Dunham Greets Visitors at the Katherine Dunham Museum (1979), Photo -- Katherine Dunham Receives the Albert Schweitzer Award (1979), Photo -- Katherine Dunham with President Ronald Reagan During Kennedy Center Awards Gala (1986), Photo -- Katherine Dunham with Participants in the Divine Drumbeats Ritual at Habitation LeClerc, Haiti (1980), Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Company in 'Lady With a Cigar', Photo -- Katherine Dunham Receives the Commander of the Legion of Honor of Haiti (1961), Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Adlai Stevenson Greet Childen at White House Conference on Children (1970), Photo -- Katherine Dunham and Company Disembark Plane in Nice (1949), Photo -- Young Katherine Dunham Rides in a Goat Cart, Photo -- Katherine Dunham with President of Senegal, Leopold Senghor. Film is a remarkably effective medium in conveying drama…. Her name should be as well known as Balanchine or Levi Strauss.” Penny Godboldo’s Dunham technique classes are scheduled for Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 at Cumbe in Brooklyn. It is named after African-American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham, who moved to Haiti in the 1930s to learn about the African heritage of Caribbean dance forms. —Katherine Dunham PhB'36. Katherine Dunham is known as of the most influential African American individuals, when it come down to the art of African Dance. The technique is a codified modern dance technique that has its roots in African and Caribbean movements and rhythms, it … Dunham was always a formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination. 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.In Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora (Oxford, 2017), author Joanna Dee Das argues Dunham was more … The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. Teachers in the Dance Division include Todd Bolender (ballet), Marie Bryant (tap and boogie), and José Limón (modern dance). In her lifetime, … In addition, Dunham conducted special projects for African American high school students in Chicago; was artistic and technical director (1966–67) to the president of Senegal; and served as artist-in-residence, and later professor, at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and director of Southern Illinois’s Performing Arts Training Centre and Dynamic Museum in East St. Louis, Ill. Dunham was active in human rights causes, and in 1992 she staged a 47-day hunger strike to highlight the plight of Haitian refugees. Check out the famous American dancer, Katherine Dunham, performing West Indian Creole music in a ballet at the Cambridge Theatre in London. The union of dance and anthropology would have a profound impact on her … She returned to the United States in 1936 informed by new methods of movement and expression, which she incorporated into techniques that transformed the world of dance. These experiences provided ample material for the numerous books, articles and short stories Dunham authored. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) By Halifu Osumare Katherine Dunham was a world famous dancer, choreographer, author, anthropologist, social activist, and humanitarian. As an undergraduate, Katherine Dunham, PhB’36, once attended a lecture by Prof. Robert Redfield, whose anthropological research in Mexico focused on acculturation. In the 1940s, she formed the Katherine Dunham Dance Company in NYC, and this troupe toured the world for two decades. Known as the "Matriarch of Black Dance," Katherine Dunham, in the 1930s, founded the first major black modern dance company in the United States. Born in 1909 in Chicago, Katherine Dunham is an American dancer-choreographer who is best known for incorporating African American, Caribbean, African, and South … It is no question that Katherine Dunham was an incredibly influential dancer that revolutionized modern dance, but she was also known for pushing back against poverty and racism. Katherine Dunham is perhaps most famous for her influence on modern American dance with the introduction of African and Caribbean dance movement. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in American and European theater of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. 62 Likes, 0 Comments - Missouri History Museum (@mohistorymuseum) on Instagram: “Katherine Dunham is best known as a dancer and choreographer. Dunham is perhaps the greatest known and most influential creator of black dance. Dunham had combined the movement she had observed and come to deeply admire in Haiti and combined it with ballet and modern, creating the Dunham Technique(Ebony, Feb 2006, p. 104). In October 1944, the African-American choreographer Katherine Dunham (1909–2006) stood in front of an audience in Louisville, Kentucky and announced that her dance company would not return to Louisville until the city desegregated its theaters. Dunham passed away on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at the age of 96. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Katherine Dunham had enough talent in her -- as a singer, dancer, director, writer, and producer -- for any three people, and she also managed to work in a significant contribution as a rights activist in a career that started in music and dance and lasted for 60 years. Sixty years later, the New York Times called her a "Controversial Pioneer." She also choreographed and appeared in Broadway musicals, operas and the film Cabin in the Sky. Her many original works include L’ag’ya, Shango and Bal Negre. from the University of Chicago, she had acquired a vast knowledge of the dances and rituals of the black peoples of tropical America. Katherine Dunham: “Rites de Passage” is an upcoming feature length documentary film that chronicles the pursuit to transform what dancers refer to as a living treasure/archive where “the dance lives in the body” into a staged event.From choreography – to class/rehearsal – to stage. Likewise, what challenges did Katherine Dunham face? Dunham early became interested in dance. Her dance troupe in venues around the … …was dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist, Film, series of still photographs on film, projected in rapid succession onto a screen by means of light. Choreographer, dancer, and anthropologist all in one, she collected ethnic, ritualistic dances, re-interpreted and staged them. 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