When she was not performing, Dunham and Pratt often visited Haiti for extended stays. She majored in anthropology at the University of Chicago, and after learning that much of Black . 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. Chin, Elizabeth. After noticing that Katherine enjoyed working and socializing with people, her brother suggested that she study Anthropology. On graduating with a bachelors degree in anthropology she undertook field studies in the Caribbean and in Brazil. 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. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. She also developed the Dunham Technique, a method of movement to support her dance works. Never completing her required coursework for her graduate degree, she departed for Broadway and Hollywood. Choreographer. 288 pages, Hardcover. [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 died on May 21 2006. However, after her father remarried, Albert Sr. and his new wife, Annette Poindexter Dunham, took in Katherine and her brother. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Katherine Dunham's long and remarkable life spanned the fields of anthropology, dance, theater, and inner city social work.As an anthropologist, Dunham studied and lived among the peoples of Haiti and other Caribbean islands; as a dancer and choreographer she combined "primitive" Caribbean dances with . Alvin Ailey, who stated that he first became interested in dance as a professional career after having seen a performance of the Katherine Dunham Company as a young teenager of 14 in Los Angeles, called the Dunham Technique "the closest thing to a unified Afro-American dance existing.". Jobson, Ryan Cecil. 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. Example. It was not a success, closing after only eight performances. Katherine Dunham. He was only one of a number of international celebrities who were Dunham's friends. Grow your vocab the fun way! 30 seconds. As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "anthropology became a life-way"[2] for Dunham. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student . [21] This style of participant observation research was not yet common within the discipline of anthropology. In my mind, it's the most fascinating thing in the world to learn".[19]. She also continued refining and teaching the Dunham Technique to transmit that knowledge to succeeding generations of dance students. [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. 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. She built her own dance empire and was hailed as the queen of black dance. 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. She established the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities in East St. Louis to preserve Haitian and African instruments and artifacts from her personal collection. The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance. She was instrumental in getting respect for Black dancers on the concert dance stage and directed the first self-supported Black dance company. The schools she created helped train such notables as Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins in the "Dunham technique." Death . Her work inspired many. Dunham became interested in both writing and dance at a young age. Katherine Dunham in 1956. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. This initiative drew international publicity to the plight of the Haitian boat-people and U.S. discrimination against them. Katherine Dunham in a photograph from around 1945. 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. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him. 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. Back in the United States she formed an all-black dance troupe, which in 1940 performed her Tropics and Le Jazz . After Mexico, Dunham began touring in Europe, where she was an immediate sensation. - Pic Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. 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. If Cities Could Dance: East St. Louis. During these years, the Dunham company appeared in some 33 countries in Europe, North Africa, South America, Australia, and East Asia. Among her dancers selected were Marcia McBroom, Dana McBroom, Jean Kelly, and Jesse Oliver. (She later took a Ph.D. in anthropology.) . The critics acknowledged the historical research she did on dance in ancient Egypt, but they were not appreciative of her choreography as staged for this production.[25]. She is best known for bringing African and Caribbean dance styles to the US [1]. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. Dana McBroom-Manno still teaches Dunham Technique in New York City and is a Master of Dunham Technique. Although Dunham was offered another grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to pursue her academic studies, she chose dance. A photographic exhibit honoring her achievements, entitled Kaiso! The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. Over the years Katherine Dunham has received scores of special awards, including more than a dozen honorary doctorates from various American universities. While in Haiti, Dunham investigated Vodun rituals and made extensive research notes, particularly on the dance movements of the participants. Despite these successes, the company frequently ran into periods of financial difficulties, as Dunham was required to support all of the 30 to 40 dancers and musicians. In 1987 she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, and was also inducted into the. Here are 10 facts about her fascinating life. 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". Based on her research in Martinique, this three-part performance integrated elements of a Martinique fighting dance into American ballet. Born in 1909 during the turn of the century Victorian era in the small town of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, she became one of the first dance anthropologists, started the first internationally-touring pre-dominantly black dance company . 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. Katherine Dunham Facts that are Fun!!! Anthropology News 33, no. 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. In Boston, then a bastion of conservatism, the show was banned in 1944 after only one performance. "Katherine Dunham's Dance as Public Anthropology. International dance icon Katherine Dunham (right,) also an anthropologist, founded an art museum in East St. Louis, IL. Subsequently, Dunham undertook various choreographic commissions at several venues in the United States and in Europe. As a choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of dance in the twentieth century. Dunham also created the well-known Dunham Technique [1]. In particular, Dunham is a model for the artist as activist. [3] She created many all-black dance groups. Katherine was also an activist, author, educator, and anthropologist. ", "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. Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. From the beginning of their association, around 1938, Pratt designed the sets and every costume Dunham ever wore. April 30, 2019. Understanding that the fact was due to racial discrimination, she made sure the incident was publicized. [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. Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. At the recommendation of her mentor Melville Herskovits, PhB'20a Northwestern University anthropologist and African studies expertDunham's calling cards read both "dancer" and . Her choreography and performances made use of a concept within Dance Anthropology called "research-to-performance". She returned to the United States in 1936 informed by new methods of movement and expression, which she incorporated into techniques that transformed the world of dance. Dunham early became interested in dance. Birth Country: United States. In 1964, Dunham settled in East St. Louis, and took up the post of artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University in nearby Edwardsville. [15] Dunham's relationship with Redfield in particular was highly influential. Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic for The New York Times, called Dunham "a major pioneer in Black theatrical dance ahead of her time." At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. 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. Numerous scholars describe Dunham as pivotal to the fields of Dance Education, Applied Anthropology, Humanistic Anthropology, African Diasporic Anthropology and Liberatory Anthropology. Dunham Technique was created by Katherine Dunham, a legend in the worlds of dance and anthropology. Occupation(s): He has released six stand-up specials and one album of Christmas songs. Please scroll down to enjoy more supporting materials. most important pedagogues original work which includes :Batuada. As a teenager, she won a scholarship to the Dunham school and later became a dancer with the company, before beginning her successful singing career. One of the most significant dancers, artists, and anthropologic figures of the 20th century, Katherine Dunham defied racial and gender boundaries during a . From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. According to the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, Dunham never thought she'd have a career in dance, although she did study with ballerina and choreographer Ruth Page, among others. Katherine Dunham Biography, Life, Interesting Facts. 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 . 8 Katherine Dunham facts. 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. See "Selected Bibliography of Writings by Katherine Dunham" in Clark and Johnson. from the University of Chicago, she had acquired a vast knowledge of the dances and rituals of the Black peoples of tropical America. 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. She was born on June 22, 1909 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small . VV A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, editors, Joliet Central High School Yearbook, 1928. [5] She had an older brother, Albert Jr., with whom she had a close relationship. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . 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. Alumnae include Eartha Kitt, Marlon Brando and Julie Belafonte. "Her mastery of body movement was considered 'phenomenal.' Another fact is that it was the sometime home of the pioneering black American dancer Katherine Dunham. Birth date: October 17, 1956. In 1938 she joined the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago and composed a ballet, LAgYa, based on Caribbean dance. "What Dunham gave modern dance was a coherent lexicon of African and Caribbean styles of movementa flexible torso and spine, articulated pelvis and isolation of the limbs, a polyrhythmic strategy of movingwhich she integrated with techniques of ballet and modern dance." 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). Unlike other modern dance creators who eschewed classical ballet, Dunham embraced it as a foundation for her technique. and creative team that lasted. She arranged a fundraising cabaret for a Methodist Church, where she did her first public performance when she was 15 years old. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Regarding her impact and effect he wrote: "The rise of American Negro dance commenced when Katherine Dunham and her company skyrocketed into the Windsor Theater in New York, from Chicago in 1940, and made an indelible stamp on the dance world Miss Dunham opened the doors that made possible the rapid upswing of this dance for the present generation." During this time, she developed a warm friendship with the psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm, whom she had known in Europe. Fun facts. 2023 The HistoryMakers. Katherine Dunham on dance anthropology. At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. 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. Example. Short Biography. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. In the 1970s, scholars of Anthropology such as Dell Hymes and William S. Willis began to discuss Anthropology's participation in scientific colonialism. One of her fellow professors, with whom she collaborated, was architect Buckminster Fuller. [60], However, this decision did not keep her from engaging with and highly influencing the discipline for the rest of her life and beyond. Marlon Brando frequently dropped in to play the bongo drums, and jazz musician Charles Mingus held regular jam sessions with the drummers. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . He needn't have bothered. 1. 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. About that time Dunham met and began to work with John Thomas Pratt, a Canadian who had become one of America's most renowned costume and theatrical set designers. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist [1]. A short biography on the legendary Katherine Dunham.All information found at: kdcah.org Enjoy the short history lesson and visit dancingindarkskin.com for mo. for the developing one of the the world performed many of her. Dunham was always a formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination. Dunham's dance career first began in Chicago when she joined the Little Theater Company of Harper Avenue. Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. She is a celebrity dancer. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology Through African American Dance Pedagogy." Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) is revered as one of the great pillars of American dance history. Harrison, Faye V. "Decolonizing Anthropology Moving Further Toward and Anthropology for Liberation." 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. Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. 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. 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. 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 . [16], After her research tour of the Caribbean in 1935, Dunham returned to Chicago in the late spring of 1936. Video. Katherine Dunham was born on the 22nd of June, 1909 in Chicago before she was taken by her parents to their hometown at Glen Ellyn in Illinois. 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. ", "Kaiso! The restructuring of heavy industry had caused the loss of many working-class jobs, and unemployment was high in the city. 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. [6][10] While still a high school student, she opened a private dance school for young black children. The Dunham Technique Ballet African Dancing Her favorite color was platinum Caribbean Dancing Her favorite food was Filet of Sole How she started out Ballet African Dance Caribbean Dance The Dunham Technique wasn't so much as a technique so 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. Lyndon B. Johnson was in the audience for opening night. In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. Last Name Dunham #5. The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. Katherine Dunham was an American dancer and choreographer, credited to have brought the influence of Africa and the Caribbean into American dance . [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. Also Known For : . 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. Kraut, Anthea. 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]. 52 Copy quote. But Dunham, who was Black and held a doctorate in anthropology, had hoped to spur a "cultural awakening on the East Side," she told . She died a month before her 97th birthday.[53]. 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! Many of Dunham students who attended free public classes in East St. Louis Illinois speak highly about the influence of her open technique classes and artistic presence in the city. [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. This gained international headlines and the embarrassed local police officials quickly released her. Her field work in the Caribbean began in Jamaica, where she lived for several months in the remote Maroon village of Accompong, deep in the mountains of Cockpit Country. 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. [9] In high school she joined the Terpsichorean Club and began to learn a kind of modern dance based on the ideas of Europeans [mile Jaques-Dalcroze] and [Rudolf von Laban]. 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. 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. 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]. Dunham was both a popular entertainer and a serious artist intent on tracing the roots of Black culture. Search input Search submit button. Her popular books are Island Possessed (1969), Touch of Innocence (1959), Dances of Haiti (1983), Kaiso! 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. "[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. Genres Novels. While in Haiti, she hasn't only studied Vodun rituals, but also participated and became a mambo, female high priest in the Vodun religion. 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. "Kaiso! 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. 1910-2006. [59] She ultimately chose to continue her career in dance without her master's degree in anthropology. [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. She was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honors Award, the Plaque d'Honneur Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce Award, and a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The 1940s and 1950s saw the successors to the pioneers, give rise to such new stylistic variations through the work of artistic giants such as Jos Limn and Merce Cunningham. The school was managed in Dunham's absence by Syvilla Fort, one of her dancers, and thrived for about 10 years. 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."