Jackson Ward Richmond, Va Crime, Is Brittney Griner Mother White, Articles K

Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200003840/. 3 (1992): 24. Biography. In Hollywood, Dunham refused to sign a lucrative studio contract when the producer said she would have to replace some of her darker-skinned company members. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. At the time, the South Side of Chicago was experiencing the effects of the Great Migration were Black southerners attempted to escape the Jim Crow South and poverty. Dunham and her company appeared in the Hollywood movie Casbah (1948) with Tony Martin, Yvonne De Carlo, and Peter Lorre, and in the Italian film Botta e Risposta, produced by Dino de Laurentiis. June 22 Dancer #4. ", "Kaiso! [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. Not only did Dunham shed light on the cultural value of black dance, but she clearly contributed to changing perceptions of blacks in America by showing society that as a black woman, she could be an intelligent scholar, a beautiful dancer, and a skilled choreographer. Long, Richard A, and Joe Nash. Dunham had been invited to stage a new number for the popular, long-running musical revue Pins and Needles 1940, produced by the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. 2 (2012): 159168. 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. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. She decided to live for a year in relative isolation in Kyoto, Japan, where she worked on writing memoirs of her youth. Katherine Dunham always had an interest in dance and anthropology so her main goal in life was to combine them. This gained international headlines and the embarrassed local police officials quickly released her. Short Biography. Dunham, Katherine dnm . As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "anthropology became a life-way"[2] for Dunham. Despite 13 knee surgeries, Ms. Dunham danced professionally for more than . . Beda Schmid. Later in the year she opened a cabaret show in Las Vegas, during the first year that the city became a popular entertainment as well as gambling destination. The first work, entitled A Touch of Innocence: Memoirs of Childhood, was published in 1959. During her studies, Dunham attended a lecture on anthropology, where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. She had incurred the displeasure of departmental officials when her company performed Southland, a ballet that dramatized the lynching of a black man in the racist American South. The next year, after the US entered World War II, Dunham appeared in the Paramount musical film Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) in a specialty number, "Sharp as a Tack," with Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. All You Need to Know About Dunham Technique. Dunham also studied ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page, who became prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera. In 1937 she traveled with them to New York to take part in A Negro Dance Evening, organized by Edna Guy at the 92nd Street YMHA. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. 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. and creative team that lasted. See "Selected Bibliography of Writings by Katherine Dunham" in Clark and Johnson. Katherine Dunham. They were stranded without money because of bad management by their impresario. [5] She had an older brother, Albert Jr., with whom she had a close relationship. Using some ballet vernacular, Dunham incorporates these principles into a set of class exercises she labeled as "processions". ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). Her technique was "a way of life". 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. The schools she created helped train such notables as Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins in the "Dunham technique." Death . Katherine Dunham died on May 21 2006. 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. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. The school was managed in Dunham's absence by Syvilla Fort, one of her dancers, and thrived for about 10 years. Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. Katherine was also an activist, author, educator, and anthropologist. Tune in & learn about the inception of. 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. [11], During her time in Chicago, Dunham enjoyed holding social gatherings and inviting visitors to her apartment. 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. 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." While trying to help the young people in the community, Dunham was arrested. This was followed by television spectaculars filmed in London, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, and Mexico City. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) is revered as one of the great pillars of American dance history. Johnson 's gift for numbers allowed her to accelerate through her education. Her choreography and performances made use of a concept within Dance Anthropology called "research-to-performance". Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) brought African dance aesthetics to the United States, forever influencing modern and jazz dance. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) By Halifu Osumare Katherine Dunham was a world famous dancer, choreographer, author, anthropologist, social activist, and humanitarian. Birth Year: 1956. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . Dunham considered some really important and interesting issues, like how class and race issues translate internationally, being accepted into new communities, different types of being black, etc. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Katherine Dunham. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it's a safe place for kids . Dunham also created the well-known Dunham Technique [1]. Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic for The New York Times, called Dunham "a major pioneer in Black theatrical dance ahead of her time." Jeff Dunham hails from Dallas, Texas. He needn't have bothered. It closed after only 38 performances. . She was a woman far ahead of her time. They had particular success in Denmark and France. Through much study and time, she eventually became one of the founders of the field of dance anthropology. 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 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. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. These exercises prepare the dancers for African social and spiritual dances[31] that are practiced later in the class including the Mahi,[32] Yonvalou,[33] and Congo Paillette. In 1938 she joined the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago and composed a ballet, LAgYa, based on Caribbean dance. Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life. Katherine Dunham, was published in a limited, numbered edition of 130 copies by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. Banks, Ojeya Cruz. 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. In the 1970s, scholars of Anthropology such as Dell Hymes and William S. Willis began to discuss Anthropology's participation in scientific colonialism. Birth date: October 17, 1956. [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". 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. 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. [54] This wave continued throughout the 1990s with scholars publishing works (such as Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further in Anthropology for Liberation,[55] Decolonizing Methodologies,[56] and more recently, The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn[57]) that critique anthropology and the discipline's roles in colonial knowledge production and power structures. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Most Popular #73650. She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. Other movies she performed in as a dancer during this period included the Abbott and Costello comedy Pardon My Sarong (1942) and the black musical Stormy Weather (1943), which featured a stellar range of actors, musicians and dancers.[24]. There is also a strong emphasis on training dancers in the practices of engaging with polyrhythms by simultaneously moving their upper and lower bodies according to different rhythmic patterns. [26] This work was never produced in Joplin's lifetime, but since the 1970s, it has been successfully produced in many venues. She taught dance lessons to help pay for her education at the University of Chicago. She was instrumental in getting respect for Black dancers on the concert dance stage and directed the first self-supported Black dance company. [49] In fact, that ceremony was not recognized as a legal marriage in the United States, a point of law that would come to trouble them some years later. Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) By Das, Joanna Dee. 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. The Katherine Dunham Company toured throughout North America in the mid-1940s, performing as well in the racially segregated South. Many of her students, trained in her studios in Chicago and New York City, became prominent in the field of modern dance. When she was not performing, Dunham and Pratt often visited Haiti for extended stays. In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. [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. As this show continued its run at the Windsor Theater, Dunham booked her own company in the theater for a Sunday performance. Early in 1936, she arrived in Haiti, where she remained for several months, the first of her many extended stays in that country through her life. 2 (2020): 259271. 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. Over her long career, she choreographed more than ninety individual dances. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. Dunham was always a formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination. At the age of 82, Dunham went on a hunger strike in . In 1950, while visiting Brazil, Dunham and her group were refused rooms at a first-class hotel in So Paulo, the Hotel Esplanada, frequented by many American businessmen. forming a powerful personal. Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . 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. 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. Throughout her distinguished career, Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. Genres Novels. Based on this success, the entire company was engaged for the 1940 Broadway production Cabin in the Sky, staged by George Balanchine and starring Ethel Waters. Katherine Dunham PhB'36. Corrections? She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance."[2]. [10], After completing her studies at Joliet Junior College in 1928, Dunham moved to Chicago to join her brother Albert at the University of Chicago. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. 113 views, 2 likes, 4 loves, 0 comments, 6 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Institute for Dunham Technique Certification: Fun facts about Julie Belafonte brought to you by IDTC! Such visitors included ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Robert Redfield, Bronisaw Malinowski, A.R. theatrical designers john pratt. The Dunham company's international tours ended in Vienna in 1960. informed by new methods of america's most highly regarded. 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. 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. Video. From the beginning of their association, around 1938, Pratt designed the sets and every costume Dunham ever wore. Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. But what set her work even further apart from Martha Graham and Jos Limn was her fusion of that foundation with Afro-Caribbean styles. Kraut, Anthea. Pratt, who was white, shared Dunham's interests in African-Caribbean cultures and was happy to put his talents in her service. 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. While in Haiti, Dunham investigated Vodun rituals and made extensive research notes, particularly on the dance movements of the participants. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Born: June 22, 1909. 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. teaches us about the impact Katherine Dunham left on the dance community & on the world. 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. In 1939, Dunham's company gave additional performances in Chicago and Cincinnati and then returned to New York. The company soon embarked on a tour of venues in South America, Europe, and North Africa. Dance is an essential part of life that has always been with me. Anthropology News 33, no. Dunham accepted a position at Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis in the 1960s. Dancer, anthropologist, social worker, activist, author. At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology." However, after her father remarried, Albert Sr. and his new wife, Annette Poindexter Dunham, took in Katherine and her brother. She also danced professionally, owned a dance company, and operated a dance studio. In 1947 it was expanded and granted a charter as the Katherine Dunham School of Cultural Arts. Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. Years later, after extensive studies and initiations in Haiti,[21] she became a mambo in the Vodun religion. During these years, the Dunham company appeared in some 33 countries in Europe, North Africa, South America, Australia, and East Asia. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . 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. . 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. Video. 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. Katherine Dunham. Dunham early became interested in dance. movement and expression. [59] She ultimately chose to continue her career in dance without her master's degree in anthropology. 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.