Katherine Dunham Biography, Life, Interesting Facts. Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. [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. She majored in anthropology at the University of Chicago, and after learning that much of Black . Early in 1947 Dunham choreographed the musical play Windy City, which premiered at the Great Northern Theater in Chicago. It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. 2 (2020): 259271. 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. 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. She . Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. 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. But what set her work even further apart from Martha Graham and Jos Limn was her fusion of that foundation with Afro-Caribbean styles. 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. ..American Anthropologist.. 112, no. Example. 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. 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. . Katherine Dunham introduced African and Caribbean rhythms to modern dance. She decided to live for a year in relative isolation in Kyoto, Japan, where she worked on writing memoirs of her youth. Birthday : June 22, 1909. 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 . [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". 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. During these years, the Dunham company appeared in some 33 countries in Europe, North Africa, South America, Australia, and East Asia. 7 Katherine Dunham facts. In the 1970s, scholars of Anthropology such as Dell Hymes and William S. Willis began to discuss Anthropology's participation in scientific colonialism. Keep reading for more such interesting quotes at Kidadl!) 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'. Died: May 21, 2006. Occupation(s): Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . Additionally, she worked closely with Vera Mirova who specialized in "Oriental" dance. Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." Katherine Dunham: The Artist as Activist During World War II. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. For almost 30 years she maintained the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the only self-supported American black dance troupe at that time. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. [18] to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master's degree. Dunham is a ventriloquist comedian and uses seven different puppets in his act, known by his fans as the "suitcase posse." His first Comedy Central Presents special premiered in 2003. When she was not performing, Dunham and Pratt often visited Haiti for extended stays. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". 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. As a graduate student in anthropology in the mid-1930s, she conducted dance research in the Caribbean. Katherine Dunham facts for kids. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. 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. Charm Dance from "L'Ag'Ya". In 1949, Dunham returned from international touring with her company for a brief stay in the United States, where she suffered a temporary nervous breakdown after the premature death of her beloved brother Albert. 4 (December 2010): 640642. 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. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him. He was only one of a number of international celebrities who were Dunham's friends. Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life. In 1978, an anthology of writings by and about her, also entitled Kaiso! Katherine Dunham predated, pioneered, and demonstrated new ways of doing and envisioning Anthropology six decades ahead of the discipline. [16], After her research tour of the Caribbean in 1935, Dunham returned to Chicago in the late spring of 1936. Claude Conyers, "Film Choreography by Katherine Dunham, 19391964," in Clark and Johnson. Her father was given a number of important positions at court . [41] The State Department was dismayed by the negative view of American society that the ballet presented to foreign audiences. Birth City: Decatur. It closed after only 38 performances. Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist [1]. 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. Despite 13 knee surgeries, Ms. Dunham danced professionally for more than . Dunham also received a grant to work with Professor Melville Herskovits of Northwestern University, whose ideas about retention of African culture among African Americans served as a base for her research in the Caribbean. 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. ", Kraut, Anthea, "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of, This page was last edited on 12 February 2023, at 22:48. 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. Dunham Technique was created by Katherine Dunham, a legend in the worlds of dance and anthropology. 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. In September 1943, under the management of the impresario Sol Hurok, her troupe opened in Tropical Review at the Martin Beck Theater. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. Time reported that, "she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the U.S.'s forced repatriation of Haitian refugees. In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. She choreographed for Broadway stage productions and operaincluding Aida (1963) for the New York Metropolitan Opera. 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. After this well-received performance in 1931, the group was disbanded. 1. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th . Dancer Born in Illinois #12. The company returned to New York. Updates? 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. The Katherine Dunham Fund buys and adapts for use as a museum an English Regency-style townhouse on Pennsylvania Avenue at Tenth Street in East Saint Louis. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In 1939, Dunham's company gave additional performances in Chicago and Cincinnati and then returned to New York. [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. Jobson, Ryan Cecil. Katherine Dunham. [17] She was one of the first African-American women to attend this college and to earn these degrees. 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 also danced professionally, owned a dance company, and operated a dance studio. "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". She is a celebrity dancer. Example. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. 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. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance."[2]. The schools she created helped train such notables as Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins in the "Dunham technique." Death . What are some fun facts about Katherine Dunham? forming a powerful personal. 1910-2006. Tropics (choreographed 1937) and Le Jazz Hot (1938) were among the earliest of many works based on her research. Chin, Elizabeth. Dunham, who died at the age of 96 [in 2006], was an anthropologist and political activist, especially on behalf of the rights of black people. 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. A continuation based on her experiences in Haiti, Island Possessed, was published in 1969. Dunham was both a popular entertainer and a serious artist intent on tracing the roots of Black culture. "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.". Educate, entertain, and engage with Factmonster. "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' During her studies, Dunham attended a lecture on anthropology, where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. Banks, Ojeya Cruz. In recognition of her stance, President Aristide later awarded her a medal of Haiti's highest honor. 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). 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. Beautiful, Justice, Black. It next moved to the West Coast for an extended run of performances there. At the age of 82, Dunham went on a hunger strike in . [12] He lived on 5 January 1931 and passed away on 1 December 1989. She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US [1]. Video. 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. 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. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. from the University of Chicago, she had acquired a vast knowledge of the dances and rituals of the Black peoples of tropical America. The school was managed in Dunham's absence by Syvilla Fort, one of her dancers, and thrived for about 10 years. [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. Her father was a descendant of slaves from West Africa, and her mother was a mix of French-Canadian and Native-American heritage. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. At the height of her career in the 1940s and 1950s, Dunham was renowned throughout Europe and Latin America and was widely popular in the United States. Over the years Katherine Dunham has received scores of special awards, including more than a dozen honorary doctorates from various American universities. It was considered one of the best learning centers of its type at the time. 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. [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,. Deren is now considered to be a pioneer of independent American filmmaking. 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". Glory Van Scott and Jean-Lon Destin were among other former Dunham dancers who remained her lifelong friends. Also Known For : . 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. [13], Dunham officially joined the department in 1929 as an anthropology major,[13] while studying dances of the African diaspora. [26] This work was never produced in Joplin's lifetime, but since the 1970s, it has been successfully produced in many venues.