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This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Katherine-Dunham, The Kennedy Center - Biography of Katherine Dunham, Katherine Dunham - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology Through African American Dance Pedagogy." Corrections? In 1976, Dunham was guest artist-in-residence and lecturer for Afro-American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Katherine Mary Dunham, 22 Jun 1909 - 21 May 2006 Exhibition Label Born Glen Ellyn, Illinois One of the founders of the anthropological dance movement, Katherine Dunham distilled Caribbean and African dance elements into modern American choreography. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology through African American Dance Pedagogy." In 1963, she became the first African American to choreograph for the Met since Hemsley Winfield set the dances for The Emperor Jones in 1933. Kaiso is an Afro-Caribbean term denoting praise. This won international acclaim and is now taught as a modern dance style in many dance schools. 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. It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. : Writings by and About Katherine Dunham. Dunham turned anthropology into artistry - University of Chicago News Dunham was born in Chicago on June 22, 1909. Dunham also created the well-known Dunham Technique [1]. You can't learn about dances until you learn about people. Born in 1909 during the turn of the century Victorian era in the small town of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, she became one of the first dance anthropologists, started the first internationally-touring pre-dominantly black dance company . Transforming Anthropology 20, no. 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. [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. [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. Katherine Johnson, ne Katherine Coleman, also known as (1939-56) Katherine Goble, (born August 26, 1918, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, U.S.died February 24, 2020, Newport News, Virginia), American mathematician who calculated and analyzed the flight paths of many spacecraft during her more than three decades with the U.S. space program. She also developed the Dunham Technique, a method of movement to support her dance works. 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). Dunham early became interested in dance. [50] Both Dunham and the prince denied the suggestion. She also choreographed and starred in dance sequences in such films as Carnival of Rhythm (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), and Casbah (1947). London: Zed Books, 1999. Katherine Dunham was an African-American dancer and choreographer, producer, author, scholar, anthropologist and Civil Rights activist. See "Selected Bibliography of Writings by Katherine Dunham" in Clark and Johnson. Ruth Page had written a scenario and choreographed La Guiablesse ("The Devil Woman"), based on a Martinican folk tale in Lafcadio Hearn's Two Years in the French West Indies. She also choreographed and appeared in Broadway musicals, operas and the film Cabin in the Sky. Katherine Dunham Bio - Institute for Dunham Technique Certification Katherine Dunham | Encyclopedia.com Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. All You Need to Know About Dunham Technique. Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. 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. Dunham was always a formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination. She was the first American dancer to present indigenous forms on a concert stage, the first to sustain a black dance company. She created and performed in works for stage, clubs, and Hollywood films; she started a school and a technique that continue to flourish; she fought unstintingly for racial justice. [6][10] While still a high school student, she opened a private dance school for young black children. Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him. "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". Luminaries like Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Katherine Dunham began to shape and define what this new genre of dance would be. Text:. 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. Having completed her undergraduate work at the University of Chicago and decided to pursue a performing career rather than academic studies, Dunham revived her dance ensemble. Dancer. Such visitors included ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Robert Redfield, Bronisaw Malinowski, A.R. Katherine Dunham, Dance Icon, Dies at 96 - The New York Times Who Was Katherine Dunham??? by Adrianne Hoopes - Prezi All rights reserved. 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. Video. The PATC teaching staff was made up of former members of Dunham's touring company, as well as local residents. 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. Katherine Dunham | Smithsonian Institution Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic for The New York Times, called Dunham "a major pioneer in Black theatrical dance ahead of her time." Interesting facts. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. . However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. She also created several other works of choreography, including The Emperor Jones (a response to the play by Eugene O'Neill) and Barrelhouse. 10 Facts About Katherine Johnson - Mental Floss Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. Facts About Katherine Dunham. She also appeared in the Broadway musicals "Bal . 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 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. New York City, U.S. (She later wrote Journey to Accompong, a book describing her experiences there.) [7] The family moved to a predominantly white neighborhood in Joliet, Illinois. It was not a success, closing after only eight performances. 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. Katherine Dunham: The Artist as Activist During World War II. The program she created runs to this day at the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, revolutionizing lives with dance and culture. 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. In her biography, Joyce Aschenbrenner (2002), credits Ms Dunham as the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance", and describes her work as: "fundamentally . [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. As a student, she studied under anthropologists such as A.R. Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz Dance | Jazz Dance: A History of the She decided to live for a year in relative isolation in Kyoto, Japan, where she worked on writing memoirs of her youth. She died a month before her 97th birthday.[53]. 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. 288 pages, Hardcover. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. One of her fellow professors, with whom she collaborated, was architect Buckminster Fuller. Chin, Elizabeth. By drawing on a vast, never-utilized trove of archival materials along with oral histories, choreographic analysis, and embodied research, Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora offers new insight about how this remarkable woman built political solidarity through the arts. The next year the production was repeated with Katherine Dunham in the lead and with students from Dunham's Negro Dance Group in the ensemble. In 2004 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from, In 2005, she was awarded "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research" by the. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". 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]. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. Among her dancers selected were Marcia McBroom, Dana McBroom, Jean Kelly, and Jesse Oliver. . In 19341936, Dunham performed as a guest artist with the ballet company of the Chicago Opera. Years later, after extensive studies and initiations in Haiti,[21] she became a mambo in the Vodun religion. It opened in Chicago in 1933, with a black cast and with Page dancing the title role. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. 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. katherine dunham fun facts 1. Her mother, Fanny June Dunham, who, according to Dunham's memoir, possessed Indian, French Canadian, English and probably African ancestry, died when Dunham was four years old. As I document in my book Katherine Dunham: Dance and the . At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. [17] She was one of the first African-American women to attend this college and to earn these degrees. She choreographed for Broadway stage productions and operaincluding Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. Katherine Dunham and the dances of the African diaspora Katherine Dunham Fused Together Dance and Anthropology 2023 The HistoryMakers. Katherine Dunham, June 22, Katherine Dunham was born to a French -Canadian woman and an African American man in the state of Chicago in America, Her birthday was 22nd June in the year 1909. . Upon returning to Chicago, the company performed at the Goodman Theater and at the Abraham Lincoln Center. Katherine Dunham by:Miracle | Other Quiz - Quizizz What are some fun facts about Katherine Dunham? movement and expression. [13], Dunham officially joined the department in 1929 as an anthropology major,[13] while studying dances of the African diaspora. The first work, entitled A Touch of Innocence: Memoirs of Childhood, was published in 1959. Leverne Backstrom, president of the board of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, still does. Here are some interesting facts about Alvin Ailey for you: Facts about Alvin Ailey 1: the popular modern dance Dunham Company member Dana McBroom-Manno was selected as a featured artist in the show, which played on the Music Fair Circuit. "My job", she said, "is to create a useful legacy. [1] She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US. and creative team that lasted. TOP 25 QUOTES BY KATHERINE DUNHAM | A-Z Quotes In 2000 Katherine Dunham was named America's irreplaceable Dance Treasure. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Through her ballet teachers, she was also exposed to Spanish, East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance forms.[23]. Then she traveled to Martinique and to Trinidad and Tobago for short stays, primarily to do an investigation of Shango, the African god who was still considered an important presence in West Indian religious culture. 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. Receiving a post graduate academic fellowship, she went to the Caribbean to study the African diaspora, ethnography and local dance. Q. Katherine Mary Dun ham was an African-American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. In 1963, Dunham became the first African-American to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera. She graduated from Joliet Central High School in 1928, where she played baseball, tennis, basketball, and track; served as vice-president of the French Club, and was on the yearbook staff. Video. The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. 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. Dunham continued to develop dozens of new productions during this period, and the company met with enthusiastic audiences in every city. 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. The finale to the first act of this show was Shango, a staged interpretation of a Vodun ritual, which became a permanent part of the company's repertory. Long, Richard A, and Joe Nash. Inspiring dancers: Ms Katherine Dunham - (Un)popular Cultures Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. They were stranded without money because of bad management by their impresario. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." In Boston, then a bastion of conservatism, the show was banned in 1944 after only one performance. Dunham and Kitt collaborated again in the 1970s in an Equity Production of the musical Peg, based on the Irish play, Peg O' My Heart. As celebrities, their voices can have a profound influence on popular culture. Jobson, Ryan Cecil. 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. Decolonozing Anthropology: Katherine "the Great" Dunham In recognition of her stance, President Aristide later awarded her a medal of Haiti's highest honor. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. Katherine Dunham Biography, Life, Interesting Facts. [15] It was in a lecture by Redfield that she learned about the relationship between dance and culture, pointing out that Black Americans had retained much of their African heritage in dances. At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. used throughout the world choros, rite de passage, los Idies, and. Birthday : June 22, 1909. Katherine Dunham - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . In 1945, Dunham opened and directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance and Theatre near Times Square in New York City. Katherine Dunham - IMDb 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. [16], After her research tour of the Caribbean in 1935, Dunham returned to Chicago in the late spring of 1936. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . I Took A Katherine Dunham-Technique Dance Class And Learned - Essence She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance."[2]. ", 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. During this time, she developed a warm friendship with the psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm, whom she had known in Europe. The Dunham Technique Ballet African Dancing Her favorite color was platinum Caribbean Dancing Her favorite food was Filet of Sole How she started out Ballet African Dance Caribbean Dance The Dunham Technique wasn't so much as a technique so Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. She made national headlines by staging a hunger strike to protest the U.S. governments repatriation policy for Haitian immigrants. Biography of Jeff Dunham, Comedian and Ventriloquist Katherine Mary Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909. Mae C. Jemison: First African American Female Astronaut - Biography . 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. Beautiful, Justice, Black. Katherine Dunham: The Artist as Activist | Center for the Humanities 2 (2020): 259271. for the developing one of the the world performed many of her. [21] This style of participant observation research was not yet common within the discipline of anthropology. 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. 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. Katherine Dunham. Dunham became interested in both writing and dance at a young age. [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. However, fully aware of her passion for both dance performance, as well as anthropological research, she felt she had to choose between the two. Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. Birth Country: United States. Her legacy was far-reaching, both in dance and her cultural and social work. 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". Over the years Katherine Dunham has received scores of special awards, including more than a dozen honorary doctorates from various American universities. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist [1]. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) is revered as one of the great pillars of American dance history. [54] After recovering crucial dance epistemologies relevant to people of the African diaspora during her ethnographic research, she applied anthropological knowledge toward developing her own dance pedagogy (Dunham Technique) that worked to reconcile with the legacy of colonization and racism and correct sociocultural injustices. First Name Katherine #37. (She later took a Ph.D. in anthropology.) 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. Throughout her distinguished career, Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. Members of Dunham's last New York Company auditioned to become members of the Met Ballet Company. Tropics (choreographed 1937) and Le Jazz Hot (1938) were among the earliest of many works based on her research. However, after her father remarried, Albert Sr. and his new wife, Annette Poindexter Dunham, took in Katherine and her brother. from the University of Chicago, she had acquired a vast knowledge of the dances and rituals of the Black peoples of tropical America. Video. Search input Search submit button. Early in 1947 Dunham choreographed the musical play Windy City, which premiered at the Great Northern Theater in Chicago. Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) By Das, Joanna Dee. Katherine Dunham is credited Her dance troupe in venues around. Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Archive - Selkirk Auctioneers [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. [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. Deren is now considered to be a pioneer of independent American filmmaking. [15] Dunham's relationship with Redfield in particular was highly influential. The original two-week engagement was extended by popular demand into a three-month run, after which the company embarked on an extensive tour of the United States and Canada. During her studies, Dunham attended a lecture on anthropology, where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. 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. ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). Choreographer. From the 40s to the 60s, Dunham and her dance troupe toured to 57 countries of the world. Cruz Banks, Ojeya. Two Avant-Garde Women Who Took Big Risks in Chicago's Art Scene He was only one of a number of international celebrities who were Dunham's friends. Photo provided by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Morris Library Special Collections Research Center. In particular, Dunham is a model for the artist as activist. In 1963 Dunham was commissioned to choreograph Aida at New York's Metropolitan Opera Company, with Leontyne Price in the title role. Alvin Ailey, who stated that he first became interested in dance as a professional career after having seen a performance of the Katherine Dunham Company as a young teenager of 14 in Los Angeles, called the Dunham Technique "the closest thing to a unified Afro-American dance existing.". Most Popular #73650. A continuation based on her experiences in Haiti, Island Possessed, was published in 1969. International dance icon Katherine Dunham (right,) also an anthropologist, founded an art museum in East St. Louis, IL. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. About Miss Dunham - Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities [1] The Dunham Technique is still taught today. He has released six stand-up specials and one album of Christmas songs. In 1964, Dunham settled in East St. Louis, and took up the post of artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University in nearby Edwardsville. "[48] During her protest, Dick Gregory led a non-stop vigil at her home, where many disparate personalities came to show their respect, such Debbie Allen, Jonathan Demme, and Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. By Renata Sago. [14] Redfield, Herskovits, and Sapir's contributions to cultural anthropology, exposed Dunham to topics and ideas that inspired her creatively and professionally. Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. Fun facts. There she met John Pratt, an artist and designer and they got married in 1941 until his death in 1986. It next moved to the West Coast for an extended run of performances there. Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) brought African dance aesthetics to the United States, forever influencing modern and jazz dance. VV A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, editors, Joliet Central High School Yearbook, 1928. Vintage Dancers You Should Know: Katherine Dunham 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.