These experiences provided ample material for the numerous books, articles and short stories Dunham authored. Katherine Dunham (born June 22, 1909) [1] was an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist [1]. In this post, she choreographed the Chicago production of Run Li'l Chil'lun, performed at the Goodman Theater. Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham or the "Matriarch of - Medium 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 . Katherine Dunham Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com Dunham early became interested in dance. 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'. [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. Through much study and time, she eventually became one of the founders of the field of dance anthropology. [14] Redfield, Herskovits, and Sapir's contributions to cultural anthropology, exposed Dunham to topics and ideas that inspired her creatively and professionally. While in Haiti, she hasn't only studied Vodun rituals, but also participated and became a mambo, female high priest in the Vodun religion. Dance is an essential part of life that has always been with me. 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." While a student at the University of Chicago, she formed a dance group that performed in concert at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1934 and with the Chicago Civic Opera company in 193536. THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. In particular, Dunham is a model for the artist as activist. Katherine was also an activist, author, educator, and anthropologist. Facts About Katherine Dunham. A carriage house on the grounds is to . 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. Katherine Dunham was an African-American dancer and choreographer, producer, author, scholar, anthropologist and Civil Rights activist. . In 1938 she joined the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago and composed a ballet, LAgYa, based on Caribbean dance. 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. 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. ZURICH Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood . Others who attended her school included James Dean, Gregory Peck, Jose Ferrer, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. Dunham, Katherine dnm . All You Need to Know About Dunham Technique. She is known for her many innovations, one of her most known . This won international acclaim and is now taught as a modern dance style in many dance schools. Chin, Elizabeth. Dunham is credited with introducing international audiences to African aesthetics and establishing African dance as a true art form. She lectured every summer until her death at annual Masters' Seminars in St. Louis, which attracted dance students from around the world. Receiving a post graduate academic fellowship, she went to the Caribbean to study the African diaspora, ethnography and local dance. There she met John Pratt, an artist and designer and they got married in 1941 until his death in 1986. In the 1930s, she did fieldwork in the Caribbean and infused her choreography with the cultures . Gender: Female. As Julia Foulkes pointed out, "Dunham's path to success lay in making high art in the United States from African and Caribbean sources, capitalizing on a heritage of dance within the African Diaspora, and raising perceptions of African American capabilities."[65]. Katherine Mary Dunham (also known as Kaye Dunn, June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. 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. 2 (2020): 259271. ", "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. She built her own dance empire and was hailed as the queen of black dance. Writings by and about Katherine Dunham" , Katherine Dunham, 2005. 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. In my mind, it's the most fascinating thing in the world to learn".[19]. In 1986 the American Anthropological Association gave her a Distinguished Service Award. It was considered one of the best learning centers of its type at the time. In 2000 Katherine Dunham was named America's irreplaceable Dance Treasure. Last Name Dunham #5. Radcliffe-Brown, Edward Sapir, Melville Herskovits, Lloyd Warner and Bronisaw Malinowski. A photographic exhibit honoring her achievements, entitled Kaiso! Upon returning to Chicago, the company performed at the Goodman Theater and at the Abraham Lincoln Center. The living Dunham tradition has persisted. Charm Dance from "L'Ag'Ya". The recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. Best Known For: Mae C. Jemison is the . "My job", she said, "is to create a useful legacy. You dance because you have to. . Birth Year: 1956. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. Beda Schmid. She was also consulted on costuming for the Egyptian and Ethiopian dress. [52], On May 21, 2006, Dunham died in her sleep from natural causes in New York City. As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "anthropology became a life-way"[2] for Dunham. [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. katherine dunham fun factsaiken county sc register of deeds katherine dunham fun facts In 1992, at age 83, Dunham went on a highly publicized hunger strike to protest the discriminatory U.S. foreign policy against Haitian boat-people. Glory Van Scott and Jean-Lon Destin were among other former Dunham dancers who remained her lifelong friends. 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". forming a powerful personal. Fun Facts. Her father, Albert Millard Dunham, was a descendant of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar. The Katherine Dunham Museum: Saving the Legacy of a True Renaissance Woman Video. Dunham was active in human rights causes, and in 1992 she staged a 47-day hunger strike to highlight the plight of Haitian refugees. She also developed the Dunham Technique, a method of movement to support her dance works. Video. ", "Kaiso! Named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt, she was their only child. Jobson, Ryan Cecil. 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. She also appeared in the Broadway musicals "Bal . At the recommendation of her mentor Melville Herskovits, PhB'20a Northwestern University anthropologist and African studies expertDunham's calling cards read both "dancer" and . [28] Strongly founded in her anthropological research in the Caribbean, Dunham technique introduces rhythm as the backbone of various widely known modern dance principles including contraction and release,[29] groundedness, fall and recover,[30] counterbalance, and many more. 30 seconds. Stormy Weather (1943 film) - Wikipedia Dunham's mother, Fanny June Dunham (ne Taylor), who was of mixed French-Canadian and Native American heritage. Nationality. 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. 288 pages, Hardcover. There, her father ran a dry-cleaning business.[8]. ", 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. The Dunham troupe toured for two decades, stirring audiences around the globe with their dynamic and highly theatrical performances. Question 2. 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. Many of her students, trained in her studios in Chicago and New York City, became prominent in the field of modern dance. After her company performed successfully, Dunham was chosen as dance director of the Chicago Negro Theater Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. Dunham early became interested in dance. Schools inspired by it were later opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome by dancers who had been trained by Dunham. She did not complete the other requirements for that degree, however, as she realized that her professional calling was performance and choreography. katherine dunham fun facts 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. In 1947 it was expanded and granted a charter as the Katherine Dunham School of Cultural Arts. Biography of Jeff Dunham, Comedian and Ventriloquist 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. The schools she created helped train such notables as Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins in the "Dunham technique." Death . Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of . Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Katherine Dunham - Author, Career, Childhood - Katherine Dunham Biography 52 Copy quote. Birth City: Decatur. Katherine Dunham facts for kids. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. Video. TOP 25 QUOTES BY KATHERINE DUNHAM | A-Z Quotes Katherine Dunham, was mounted at the Women's Center on the campus. informed by new methods of america's most highly regarded. Her popular books are Island Possessed (1969), Touch of Innocence (1959), Dances of Haiti (1983), Kaiso! Episode 5 of Break the FACTS! Occupation(s): In 1978, an anthology of writings by and about her, also entitled Kaiso! From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. 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." 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. In 1963, she became the first African American to choreograph for the Met since Hemsley Winfield set the dances for The Emperor Jones in 1933. Facts about Alvin Ailey talk about the famous African-American activist and choreographer. The impresario Sol Hurok, manager of Dunham's troupe for a time, once had Ms. Dunham's legs insured for $250,000. Book. Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. Katherine Dunham Timeline | Articles and Essays | Selections from the Additionally, she was named one of the most influential African American anthropologists. [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,. Katherine Dunham Bio - Institute for Dunham Technique Certification Some Facts. Please scroll down to enjoy more supporting materials. Birth Country: United States. Both remained close friends of Dunham for many years, until her death. ", Examples include: The Ballet in film "Stormy Weather" (Stone 1943) and "Mambo" (Rossen 1954). This was followed by television spectaculars filmed in London, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, and Mexico City. used throughout the world choros, rite de passage, los Idies, and. As I document in my book Katherine Dunham: Dance and the . He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. Inspiring dancers: Ms Katherine Dunham - (Un)popular Cultures 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 incident was widely discussed in the Brazilian press and became a hot political issue. [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. "Katherine Dunham: Decolonizing Anthropology Through African American Dance Pedagogy." 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. USA. In 1945, Dunham opened and directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance and Theatre near Times Square in New York City. I Took A Katherine Dunham-Technique Dance Class And Learned - Essence The Katherine Dunham Museum is located at 1005 Pennsylvania Avenue, East St. Louis, Illinois. The show created a minor controversy in the press. 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. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. [6][10] While still a high school student, she opened a private dance school for young black children. [3] Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway for a revue entitled Bal Ngre, which received glowing notices from theater and dance critics. It was a venue for Dunham to teach young black dancers about their African heritage. She was instrumental in getting respect for Black dancers on the concert dance stage and directed the first self-supported Black dance company. [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. Katherine Dunham Facts that are Fun!!! Tune in & learn about the inception of. ..American Anthropologist.. 112, no. Classes are led by Ruby Streate, director of dance and education and artistic director of the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. Among her dancers selected were Marcia McBroom, Dana McBroom, Jean Kelly, and Jesse Oliver. Her technique was "a way of life". Ruth Page had written a scenario and choreographed La Guiablesse ("The Devil Woman"), based on a Martinican folk tale in Lafcadio Hearn's Two Years in the French West Indies. He has released six stand-up specials and one album of Christmas songs. Two Avant-Garde Women Who Took Big Risks in Chicago's Art Scene Katherine Dunham - Dancing with History "The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn: Sociocultural Anthropology in 2019." In the mid-1930s she conducted anthropological research on dance and incorporated her findings into her choreography, blending the rhythms and movements of . Katherine Dunham and the dances of the African diaspora for the developing one of the the world performed many of her. He was the founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira.[36]. Video footage of Dunham technique classes show a strong emphasis on anatomical alignment, breath, and fluidity. She died a month before her 97th birthday.[53]. [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. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. 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 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. Chin, Elizabeth. 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.