Anthropology News 33, no. One example of this was studying how dance manifests within Haitian Vodou. This was the beginning of more than 20 years during which Dunham performed with her company almost exclusively outside the United States. Throughout her distinguished career, Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. He has released six stand-up specials and one album of Christmas songs. 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). Dance is an essential part of life that has always been with me. [20] She also became friends with, among others, Dumarsais Estim, then a high-level politician, who became president of Haiti in 1949. The committee voted unanimously to award $2,400 (more than $40,000 in today's money) to support her fieldwork in the Caribbean. The show created a minor controversy in the press. Dunham also studied ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page, who became prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera. Through her ballet teachers, she was also exposed to Spanish, East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance forms.[23]. 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. Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. She was likely named after Catherine of Aragon. London: Zed Books, 1999. She wanted to know not only how people danced but why they dance. The group performed Dunham's Negro Rhapsody at the Chicago Beaux Arts Ball. Facts About Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com From the beginning of their association, around 1938, Pratt designed the sets and every costume Dunham ever wore. A fictional work based on her African experiences, Kasamance: A Fantasy, was published in 1974. Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. Inspiring dancers: Ms Katherine Dunham - (Un)popular Cultures Admission is $10, or $5 for students and seniors, and hours are by appointment; call 618-875-3636, or 618-618-795-5970 three to five days in advance. [11], During her time in Chicago, Dunham enjoyed holding social gatherings and inviting visitors to her apartment. [61][62][63][64] During this time, in addition to Dunham, numerous Black women such as Zora Neal Hurston, Caroline Bond Day, Irene Diggs, and Erna Brodber were also working to transform the discipline into an anthropology of liberation: employing critical and creative cultural production.[54]. In 1931, at the age of 21, Dunham formed a group called Ballets Ngres, one of the first black ballet companies in the United States. Katherine Johnson graduated from college at age 18. Radcliffe-Brown, Fred Eggan, and many others that she met in and around the University of Chicago. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 5 Katherine Dunham facts - Katherine dunham 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". 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). The family moved to Joliet, Illinois when her father remarried. There she was able to bring anthropologists, sociologists, educational specialists, scientists, writers, musicians, and theater people together to create a liberal arts curriculum that would be a foundation for further college work. Last Name Dunham #5. Fun facts. About Miss Dunham - Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities [12] Katherine Dunham Facts that are Fun!!! Stormy Weather is a 1943 American musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox, adapted by Frederick J. Jackson, Ted Koehler and H.S. A Short Danceography: Katherine Dunham - YouTube 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. Lyndon B. Johnson was in the audience for opening night. She lectured every summer until her death at annual Masters' Seminars in St. Louis, which attracted dance students from around the world. forming a powerful personal. 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. As a result, Dunham would later experience some diplomatic "difficulties" on her tours. She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US [1]. 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. Dunham early became interested in dance. Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. Jobson, Ryan Cecil. What are some fun facts about Katherine Dunham? Her choreography and performances made use of a concept within Dance Anthropology called "research-to-performance". 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. She returned to graduate school and submitted a master's thesis to the anthropology faculty. Katherine Dunham Bio - Institute for Dunham Technique Certification Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him. In 1963, Dunham became the first African-American to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera. In 2000 she was named one of the first one hundred of "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures" by the Dance Heritage Coalition. 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. ", 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. 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. THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909-2006) By Das, Joanna Dee. "Hoy programa extraordinario y el sbado dos estamos nos ofrece Katherine Dunham,", Constance Valis Hill, "Katherine Dunham's, Anna Kisselgoff, "Katherine Dunham's Legacy, Visible in Youth and Age,". The company soon embarked on a tour of venues in South America, Europe, and North Africa. [50] Both Dunham and the prince denied the suggestion. As this show continued its run at the Windsor Theater, Dunham booked her own company in the theater for a Sunday performance. ", While in Europe, she also influenced hat styles on the continent as well as spring fashion collections, featuring the Dunham line and Caribbean Rhapsody, and the Chiroteque Franaise made a bronze cast of her feet for a museum of important personalities.". Barrelhouse. Katherine Dunham, was published in a limited, numbered edition of 130 copies by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. Long, Richard A, and Joe Nash. ", Black writer Arthur Todd described her as "one of our national treasures". ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . Katherine Dunham facts for kids. The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. Katherine Dunham | Biography, Dance, Technique, Dance - Britannica Zombies, The Third Person, Intelligent Dancers, and Katherine Dunham After Mexico, Dunham began touring in Europe, where she was an immediate sensation. Her father was given a number of important positions at court . [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. 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. Katherine Dunham introduced African and Caribbean rhythms to modern dance. Actress: Star Spangled Rhythm. [54] Her legacy within Anthropology and Dance Anthropology continues to shine with each new day. In 2004 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from, In 2005, she was awarded "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research" by the. Understanding that the fact was due to racial discrimination, she made sure the incident was publicized. 7 Katherine Dunham facts. "[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. VV A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, editors, Joliet Central High School Yearbook, 1928. Katherine Dunham Timeline | Articles and Essays | Selections from the Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . One recurring theme that I really . 288 pages, Hardcover. Born in 1909 #28. . Years later, after extensive studies and initiations in Haiti,[21] she became a mambo in the Vodun religion. 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. At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology." Katherine Dunham was a rebel among rebels. 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. Katherine Dunham was an African-American dancer and choreographer, producer, author, scholar, anthropologist and Civil Rights activist. Her dance career was interrupted in 1935 when she received funding from the Rosenwald Foundation which allowed her to travel to Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, and Haiti for eighteen months to explore each country's respective dance cultures. 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 | Smithsonian Institution [5] Along with the Great Migration, came White flight and her aunt Lulu's business suffered and ultimately closed as a result. 8 Katherine Dunham facts. Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. Born in Glen Ellyn, IL #6. Katherine Dunham - Wikipedia Numerous scholars describe Dunham as pivotal to the fields of Dance Education, Applied Anthropology, Humanistic Anthropology, African Diasporic Anthropology and Liberatory Anthropology. From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. Nationality. for the developing one of the the world performed many of her. Her work inspired many. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The company returned to New York. Katherine Mary Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909. Search input Search submit button. From the 40s to the 60s, Dunham and her dance troupe toured to 57 countries of the world. 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. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology. The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. 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. Katherine Dunham is credited Her dance troupe in venues around. In 1945, Dunham opened and directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance and Theatre near Times Square in New York City. Her the best movie is Casbah. "Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham". 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. Katherine Dunham. [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. Using some ballet vernacular, Dunham incorporates these principles into a set of class exercises she labeled as "processions". Members of Dunham's last New York Company auditioned to become members of the Met Ballet Company. Her many original works include Lagya, Shango and Bal Negre. The Katherine Dunham Company toured throughout North America in the mid-1940s, performing as well in the racially segregated South. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Dunham ended her fast only after exiled Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Jesse Jackson came to her and personally requested that she stop risking her life for this cause. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . [59] She ultimately chose to continue her career in dance without her master's degree in anthropology. from the University of Chicago, she had acquired a vast knowledge of the dances and rituals of the Black peoples of tropical America. He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. As a student, she studied under anthropologists such as A.R. The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. She describes this during an interview in 2002: "My problemmy strong drive at that time was to remain in this academic position that anthropology gave me, and at the same time continue with this strong drive for motionrhythmic motion". 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. Gender: Female. Her father was a descendant of slaves from West Africa, and her mother was a mix of French-Canadian and Native-American heritage. Katherine Dunham - Bio, Age, Wiki, Facts and Family - in4fp.com Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. Katherine Dunham Facts for Kids However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student . Katherine Dunham by:Miracle | Other Quiz - Quizizz Never completing her required coursework for her graduate degree, she departed for Broadway and Hollywood. Alvin Ailey later produced a tribute for her in 198788 at Carnegie Hall with his American Dance Theater, entitled The Magic of Katherine Dunham. In 1935, Dunham received grants to conduct fieldwork in Trinidad, Jamaica, and Haiti to study Afro-Caribbean dance and other rituals. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 May 21, 2006)[1] was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. 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. 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. She also appeared in the Broadway musicals "Bal . She was instrumental in getting respect for Black dancers on the concert dance stage and directed the first self-supported Black dance company. American Anthropologist 122, no. Commonly grouped into the realm of modern dance techniques, Dunham is a technical dance form developed from elements of indigenous African and Afro-Caribbean dances. Katherine Dunham. [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. Text:. April 30, 2019. After the 1968 riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Dunham encouraged gang members in the ghetto to come to the center to use drumming and dance to vent their frustrations. USA. 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. 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. Over her long career, she choreographed more than ninety individual dances. 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. Writings by and about Katherine Dunham" , Katherine Dunham, 2005. most important pedagogues original work which includes :Batuada. If Cities Could Dance: East St. Louis. Dunham passed away on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at the age of 96. Jeff Dunham hails from Dallas, Texas. Dunham is still taught at widely recognized dance institutions such as The American Dance Festival and The Ailey School. ", "Dunham's European success led to considerable imitation of her work in European revues it is safe to say that the perspectives of concert-theatrical dance in Europe were profoundly affected by the performances of the Dunham troupe. Radcliffe-Brown, Edward Sapir, Melville Herskovits, Lloyd Warner and Bronisaw Malinowski. A highlight of Dunham's later career was the invitation from New York's Metropolitan Opera to stage dances for a new production of Aida, starring soprano Leontyne Price. Katherine Dunham - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays The Katherine Dunham Museum: Saving the Legacy of a True Renaissance Woman During these years, the Dunham company appeared in some 33 countries in Europe, North Africa, South America, Australia, and East Asia. Intrigued by this theory, Dunham began to study African roots of dance and, in 1935, she traveled to the Caribbean for field research. Cruz Banks, Ojeya. 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. 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. Two Avant-Garde Women Who Took Big Risks in Chicago's Art Scene Katherine Dunham: The Artist as Activist During World War II. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz Dance | Jazz Dance: A History of the Kraut, Anthea. Katherine Dunham : Dance and the African Diaspora - Google Books Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. katherine dunham fun facts 10 Facts about Alvin Ailey - Fact File However, one key reason was that she knew she would be able to reach a broader public through dance, as opposed to the inaccessible institutions of academia. Her popular books are Island Possessed (1969), Touch of Innocence (1959), Dances of Haiti (1983), Kaiso! As a choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of dance in the twentieth century. American dancer and choreographer (19092006). Occupation(s): - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. ((Photographer unknown, Courtesy of Missouri History Museum Photograph and Prints collection. Dunham became interested in both writing and dance at a young age. [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. 4 (December 2010): 640642. Katherine Dunham always had an interest in dance and anthropology so her main goal in life was to combine them. 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. 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 1939, Dunham's company gave additional performances in Chicago and Cincinnati and then returned to New York. 35 Katherine Dunham Quotes | Kidadl She was born on June 22, 1909 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small . Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." "My job", she said, "is to create a useful legacy. Much of the literature calls upon researchers to go beyond bureaucratic protocols to protect communities from harm, but rather use their research to benefit communities that they work with. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology Through African American Dance Pedagogy. She is known for her many innovations, one of her most known . 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 in 1956. [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. 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. Othella Dallas, 93, still teaches Katherine Dunham technique, which she learned from Dunham herself. 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. 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." [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. 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.

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