Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. Birth City: Decatur. [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. Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic for The New York Times, called Dunham "a major pioneer in Black theatrical dance ahead of her time." It was considered one of the best learning centers of its type at the time. Updates? 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. [2] Most of Dunham's works previewed many questions essential to anthropology's postmodern turn, such as critiquing understandings of modernity, interpretation, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism. Transforming Anthropology 20, no. Example. Initially scheduled for a single performance, the show was so popular that the troupe repeated it for another ten Sundays. In 2004 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from, In 2005, she was awarded "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research" by the. You dance because you have to. In 1978 Dunham was featured in the PBS special, Divine Drumbeats: Katherine Dunham and Her People, narrated by James Earl Jones, as part of the Dance in America series. Dunham's background as an anthropologist gave the dances of the opera a new authenticity. 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. [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. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. All You Need to Know About Dunham Technique. [54] Her dance education, while offering cultural resources for dealing with the consequences and realities of living in a racist environment, also brought about feelings of hope and dignity for inspiring her students to contribute positively to their own communities, and spreading essential cultural and spiritual capital within the U.S.[54], Just like her colleague Zora Neale Hurston, Dunham's anthropology inspired the blurring of lines between creative disciplines and anthropology. She . Katherine Dunham and John Pratt married in 1949 to adopt Marie-Christine, a French 14-month-old baby. Dunham was both a popular entertainer and a serious artist intent on tracing the roots of Black culture. Through her ballet teachers, she was also exposed to Spanish, East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance forms.[23]. The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. Text:. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. 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. Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. She and her company frequently had difficulties finding adequate accommodations while on tour because in many regions of the country, black Americans were not allowed to stay at hotels. 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. Radcliffe-Brown, Edward Sapir, Melville Herskovits, Lloyd Warner and Bronisaw Malinowski. The family moved to Joliet, Illinois when her father remarried. Birthday : June 22, 1909. Katherine Dunham is the inventor of the Dunham technique and a renowned dancer and choreographer of African-American descent. [60], However, this decision did not keep her from engaging with and highly influencing the discipline for the rest of her life and beyond. 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. It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. She also created several other works of choreography, including The Emperor Jones (a response to the play by Eugene O'Neill) and Barrelhouse. The highly respected Dance magazine did a feature cover story on Dunham in August 2000 entitled "One-Woman Revolution". Also that year they appeared in the first ever, hour-long American spectacular televised by NBC, when television was first beginning to spread across America. The troupe performed a suite of West Indian dances in the first half of the program and a ballet entitled Tropic Death, with Talley Beatty, in the second half. Among Dunham's closest friends and colleagues was Julie Robinson, formerly a performer with the Katherine Dunham Company, and her husband, singer and later political activist Harry Belafonte. ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. In 1964, Dunham settled in East St. Louis, and took up the post of artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University in nearby Edwardsville. This led to a custody battle over Katherine and her brother, brought on by their maternal relatives. "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.". Also Known For : . She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. The group performed Dunham's Negro Rhapsody at the Chicago Beaux Arts Ball. Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) By Halifu Osumare Katherine Dunham was a world famous dancer, choreographer, author, anthropologist, social activist, and humanitarian. Her the best movie is Casbah. Dunham continued to develop dozens of new productions during this period, and the company met with enthusiastic audiences in every city. She arranged a fundraising cabaret for a Methodist Church, where she did her first public performance when she was 15 years old. Her technique was "a way of life". This is where, in the late 1960s, global dance legend Katherine Dunham put down roots and taught the arts of the African diaspora to local children and teenagers. Fun facts. On February 22, 2022, Selkirk will offer a unique, one-lot auction titled, Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Ephemera And Documents. Based on her research in Martinique, this three-part performance integrated elements of a Martinique fighting dance into American ballet. Beda Schmid. Years later, after extensive studies and initiations in Haiti,[21] she became a mambo in the Vodun religion. The following year, she moved to East St. Louis, where she opened the Performing Arts Training Center to help the underserved community. Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. This was the beginning of more than 20 years during which Dunham performed with her company almost exclusively outside the United States. All rights reserved. Katherine Mary Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909. 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. Katherine Dunham facts for kids. They had particular success in Denmark and France. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology through African American Dance Pedagogy." Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. She is known for her many innovations, one of her most known . Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. Kraut, Anthea. It was a huge collection of writings by and about Katherine Dunham, so it naturally covered a lot of area. [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". 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. It next moved to the West Coast for an extended run of performances there. Dunham also studied ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page, who became prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera. The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. Dunham technique is a codified dance training technique developed by Katherine Dunham in the mid 20th century. It opened in Chicago in 1933, with a black cast and with Page dancing the title role. Katherine Dunham PhB'36. Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. Her work inspired many. What are some fun facts about Katherine Dunham? 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. katherine dunham fun factsaiken county sc register of deeds katherine dunham fun facts 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. Leverne Backstrom, president of the board of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, still does. He has released six stand-up specials and one album of Christmas songs. until hia death in the 1986. In 1987 she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, and was also inducted into the. She also danced professionally, owned a dance company, and operated a dance studio. Jeff Dunham hails from Dallas, Texas. In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. She was instrumental in getting respect for Black dancers on the concert dance stage and directed the first self-supported Black dance company. Dunhams writings, sometimes published under the pseudonym Kaye Dunn, include Katherine Dunhams 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. She did not complete the other requirements for that degree, however, as she realized that her professional calling was performance and choreography. Katherine Dunham introduced African and Caribbean rhythms to modern dance. She wrote that he "opened the floodgates of anthropology" for her. While in Haiti, she hasn't only studied Vodun rituals, but also participated and became a mambo, female high priest in the Vodun religion. 2023 The HistoryMakers. 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. Fighting, Alive, Have Faith. [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. Kaiso is an Afro-Caribbean term denoting praise. The program she created runs to this day at the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, revolutionizing lives with dance and culture. 2 (2012): 159168. This was followed by television spectaculars filmed in London, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, and Mexico City. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,