On graduating with a bachelors degree in anthropology she undertook field studies in the Caribbean and in Brazil. 52 Copy quote. Katherine Dunham - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Her dance company was provided with rent-free studio space for three years by an admirer and patron, Lee Shubert; it had an initial enrollment of 350 students. 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. Dunham was always a formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination. On February 22, 2022, Selkirk will offer a unique, one-lot auction titled, Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Ephemera And Documents. In the 1930s, she did fieldwork in the Caribbean and infused her choreography with the cultures . Decolonozing Anthropology: Katherine "the Great" Dunham 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. . She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. Occupation(s): 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. If Cities Could Dance: East St. Louis. TOP 25 QUOTES BY KATHERINE DUNHAM | A-Z Quotes Katherine Dunham and the dances of the African diaspora Others who attended her school included James Dean, Gregory Peck, Jose Ferrer, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. for teaching dance that is still la'ag'ya , Shange , Veraruzana, nanigo. Her work helped send astronauts to the . 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. [7] The family moved to a predominantly white neighborhood in Joliet, Illinois. [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. See "Selected Bibliography of Writings by Katherine Dunham" in Clark and Johnson. Katherine Dunham, a world-renowned dancer and choreographer, had big plans for East St. Louis in 1977. After the national tour of Cabin in the Sky, the Dunham company stayed in Los Angeles, where they appeared in the Warner Brothers short film Carnival of Rhythm (1941). Katherine Dunham - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family - Sticky Facts [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. Video. In 1928, while still an undergraduate, Dunham began to study ballet with Ludmilla Speranzeva, a Russian dancer who had settled in Chicago, after having come to the United States with the Franco-Russian vaudeville troupe Le Thtre de la Chauve-Souris, directed by impresario Nikita Balieff. Katherine Dunham. This was the beginning of more than 20 years during which Dunham performed with her company almost exclusively outside the United States. 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. Katherine Dunham Timeline | Articles and Essays | Selections from the June 22 Dancer #4. Legendary dancer, choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909, to an African American father and French-Canadian mother who died when she was young. Dance is an essential part of life that has always been with me. American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. She also appeared in the Broadway musicals "Bal . [12] ..American Anthropologist.. 112, no. Katherine Dunham - Dancing with History Born in 1512 to Sir Thomas Parr, lord of the manor of Kendal in Westmorland, and Maud Green, an heiress and courtier, Catherine belonged to a family of substantial influence in the north. [15] Dunham's relationship with Redfield in particular was highly influential. He lived on 5 January 1931 and passed away on 1 December 1989. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] [2] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. 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. She directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York, and was artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. "[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. Search input Search submit button. Biography of Jeff Dunham, Comedian and Ventriloquist (She later wrote Journey to Accompong, a book describing her experiences there.) The group performed Dunham's Negro Rhapsody at the Chicago Beaux Arts Ball. Unlike other modern dance creators who eschewed classical ballet, Dunham embraced it as a foundation for her technique. 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. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. She built her own dance empire and was hailed as the queen of black dance. Mae C. Jemison: First African American Female Astronaut - Biography 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. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. Charm Dance from "L'Ag'Ya". Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . She arranged a fundraising cabaret for a Methodist Church, where she did her first public performance when she was 15 years old. Katherine Dunham, was published in a limited, numbered edition of 130 copies by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. [35] In a different interview, Dunham describes her technique "as a way of life,[36]" a sentiment that seems to be shared by many of her admiring students. This led to a custody battle over Katherine and her brother, brought on by their maternal relatives. Video. 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. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . Katherine Dunham - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays Marlon Brando frequently dropped in to play the bongo drums, and jazz musician Charles Mingus held regular jam sessions with the drummers. [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. most important pedagogues original work which includes :Batuada. Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. Gender: Female. While in Haiti, Dunham investigated Vodun rituals and made extensive research notes, particularly on the dance movements of the participants. 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. Dunham also created the well-known Dunham Technique [1]. [37] One historian noted that "during the course of the tour, Dunham and the troupe had recurrent problems with racial discrimination, leading her to a posture of militancy which was to characterize her subsequent career."[38]. She wanted to know not only how people danced but why they dance. The prince was then married to actress Rita Hayworth, and Dunham was now legally married to John Pratt; a quiet ceremony in Las Vegas had taken place earlier in the year. After Mexico, Dunham began touring in Europe, where she was an immediate sensation. Katherine Dunham's Biography - The HistoryMakers They had particular success in Denmark and France. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Video footage of Dunham technique classes show a strong emphasis on anatomical alignment, breath, and fluidity. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". In the 1970s, scholars of Anthropology such as Dell Hymes and William S. Willis began to discuss Anthropology's participation in scientific colonialism. The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. VV A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, editors, Joliet Central High School Yearbook, 1928. Based on her research in Martinique, this three-part performance integrated elements of a Martinique fighting dance into American ballet. Text:. The program included courses in dance, drama, performing arts, applied skills, humanities, cultural studies, and Caribbean research. Many of her students, trained in her studios in Chicago and New York City, became prominent in the field of modern dance. (She later took a Ph.D. in anthropology.) Katherine Johnson graduated from college at age 18. Katherine Dunham Facts for Kids In 1948, she opened A Caribbean Rhapsody, first at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, and then took it to the Thtre des Champs-lyses in Paris. As celebrities, their voices can have a profound influence on popular culture. ", "Kaiso! 1. Cruz Banks, Ojeya. [14] Redfield, Herskovits, and Sapir's contributions to cultural anthropology, exposed Dunham to topics and ideas that inspired her creatively and professionally. Back in the United States she formed an all-black dance troupe, which in 1940 performed her Tropics and Le Jazz . Dunham early became interested in dance. 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. Throughout her distinguished career, Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. Her the best movie is Casbah. "[35] Dunham explains that while she admired the narrative quality of ballet technique, she wanted to develop a movement vocabulary that captured the essence of the Afro-Caribbean dancers she worked with during her travels. Dunham's background as an anthropologist gave the dances of the opera a new authenticity. Example. Katherine Dunham. One example of this was studying how dance manifests within Haitian Vodou. [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. Years later, after extensive studies and initiations in Haiti,[21] she became a mambo in the Vodun religion. Jobson, Ryan Cecil. Katherine Dunham - Bio, Age, Wiki, Facts and Family - in4fp.com Katherine Dunham Quotes On Positivity. Katherine Dunham. Glory Van Scott and Jean-Lon Destin were among other former Dunham dancers who remained her lifelong friends. American Anthropologist 122, no. During this time, she developed a warm friendship with the psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm, whom she had known in Europe. Radcliffe-Brown, Edward Sapir, Melville Herskovits, Lloyd Warner and Bronisaw Malinowski. Through much study and time, she eventually became one of the founders of the field of dance anthropology. In 2000 Katherine Dunham was named America's irreplaceable Dance Treasure. Her father was of black ancestry, a descendant of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar, while her mother belonged to mixed French-Canadian and Native . Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. In response, the Afonso Arinos law was passed in 1951 that made racial discrimination in public places a felony in Brazil.[42][43][44][45][46][47]. In 1939, Dunham's company gave additional performances in Chicago and Cincinnati and then returned to New York. [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. [60], However, this decision did not keep her from engaging with and highly influencing the discipline for the rest of her life and beyond. Beautiful, Justice, Black. Birth State: Alabama. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it's a safe place for kids . Katherine Dunham and John Pratt married in 1949 to adopt Marie-Christine, a French 14-month-old baby. 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. It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Throughout her career, Dunham occasionally published articles about her anthropological research (sometimes under the pseudonym of Kaye Dunn) and sometimes lectured on anthropological topics at universities and scholarly societies.[27]. For several years, Dunham's personal assistant and press promoter was Maya Deren, who later also became interested in Vodun and wrote The Divine Horseman: The Voodoo Gods of Haiti (1953). Katherine Mary Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909. As an African American woman, she broke barriers of race and gender, most notably as the founder of an important dance company that toured the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for several decades. From the 40s to the 60s, Dunham and her dance troupe toured to 57 countries of the world. On one of these visits, during the late 1940s, she purchased a large property of more than seven hectares (approximately 17.3 acres) in the Carrefours suburban area of Port-au-Prince, known as Habitation Leclerc. In 1940, she formed the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, which became the premier facility for training dancers. 5 Katherine Dunham facts - Katherine dunham Katherine Dunham, it includes photographs highlighting the many dimensions of Dunham's life and work. 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. [ ] Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909 (age 96) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, United States. Katherine Dunham on dance anthropology. Born: June 22, 1909. 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 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". 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." "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". [51] The couple had officially adopted their foster daughter, a 14-month-old girl they had found as an infant in a Roman Catholic convent nursery in Fresnes, France. 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). "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology Through African American Dance Pedagogy. In 1967 she officially retired, after presenting a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Last Name Dunham #5. Here are some interesting facts about Alvin Ailey for you: Facts about Alvin Ailey 1: the popular modern dance Birth Country: United States. Who Is Katherine Dunham? | GCU Blogs In 1947 it was expanded and granted a charter as the Katherine Dunham School of Cultural Arts. Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. As a graduate student in anthropology in the mid-1930s, she conducted dance research in the Caribbean. 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! She made national headlines by staging a hunger strike to protest the U.S. governments repatriation policy for Haitian immigrants. Nationality. "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' 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. 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. Using some ballet vernacular, Dunham incorporates these principles into a set of class exercises she labeled as "processions". Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. The result of this trip was Dunham's Master's thesis entitled "The Dances of Haiti". [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. ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . [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". Deren is now considered to be a pioneer of independent American filmmaking. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, creator of the Dunham Technique, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. All rights reserved. [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. 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. . American dancer and choreographer (19092006). Alvin Ailey later produced a tribute for her in 198788 at Carnegie Hall with his American Dance Theater, entitled The Magic of Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham on Break the FACTS! - YouTube Two Avant-Garde Women Who Took Big Risks in Chicago's Art Scene 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. Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) By Das, Joanna Dee. She also danced professionally, owned a dance company, and operated a dance studio. Such visitors included ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Robert Redfield, Bronisaw Malinowski, A.R. Fun facts about Julie Belafonte brought to you by IDTC! Text: Julie