Katherine Dunham facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham in 1956.
Born	Katherine Mary Dunham (1909-06-22)June 22, 1909 Chicago, Illinois, U.S
Died	May 21, 2006(2006-05-21) (aged 96) New York City, U.S
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Occupation	Modern dancer, choreographer, author, educator, activist
Spouse(s)	Jordis W. McCoo (m. 1931; div. 1938) John Pratt (m. 1941; died 1986)

Katherine Dunham in Tropical Review, Martin Beck Theatre

Katherine Mary Dunham (born June 22, 1909 – died May 21, 2006) was an amazing American dancer and choreographer. She also created her own dance style, wrote books, taught, studied cultures, and worked to make the world a better place. Katherine Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers for Black artists in the 1900s. She led her own dance company for many years. People called her the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance." This means she was a very important leader in Black dance.

While studying at the University of Chicago, Katherine also danced and ran a dance school. She earned a special degree in anthropology, which is the study of human cultures. With a scholarship, she traveled to the Caribbean to study dance and different cultures. She later went back to school for a master's degree in anthropology. But she realized her true passion was performing.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Dunham was famous in Europe and Latin America. She was also very popular in the United States. The Washington Post newspaper even called her "dancer Katherine the Great." For nearly 30 years, she led the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. This was the only Black dance group in America that supported itself at that time. She created over ninety different dances in her long career. Dunham was a pioneer in African-American modern dance. She was also a leader in dance anthropology, which studies dance in different cultures. She developed the Dunham Technique, a special way of moving for her dances.

Early Life and Interests

Katherine Mary Dunham was born on June 22, 1909, in a Chicago hospital. Her father, Albert Millard Dunham, was from a family of West African and Madagascar slaves. Her mother, Fanny June Dunham, had mixed heritage. She died when Katherine was only four years old. Katherine had an older brother, Albert Jr., and they were very close.

After her mother passed away, her father left the children with their aunt Lulu. This was on Chicago's South Side. At that time, many Black people from the South moved to Chicago. They were trying to escape unfair laws and poverty. This was called the Great Migration. Because of these changes, her aunt Lulu's business struggled and closed. This led to a fight over who would care for Katherine and her brother. They didn't have a stable home for a few years.

Later, her father remarried Annette Poindexter Dunham. Katherine and her brother then moved in with them. The family moved to Joliet, Illinois, a mostly white neighborhood. There, her father ran a dry-cleaning business.

Katherine became interested in writing and dance when she was young. In 1921, a short story she wrote at age 12 was published. It was called "Come Back to Arizona" and appeared in The Brownies' Book.

She finished Joliet Central High School in 1928. In high school, she played sports like baseball, tennis, and basketball. She was also vice-president of the French Club. She joined the Terpsichorean Club and learned a type of modern dance. At 15, she organized "The Blue Moon Café." This was a show to raise money for her church in Joliet. It was her first public performance. While still in high school, she opened a private dance school for young Black children.

Studying Cultures and Dance

After finishing her studies at Joliet Junior College in 1928, Dunham moved to Chicago. She joined her brother Albert at the University of Chicago.

In Chicago, Katherine loved having social gatherings at her apartment. Many interesting people visited her. These included musicians, writers, and other anthropologists. Her brother suggested she study Anthropology. This field studies human cultures and societies. The University of Chicago's anthropology department was new. It taught students about different cultures and how people live. It also focused on ideas of equality and understanding all cultures.

Dunham officially joined the anthropology department in 1929. She studied the dances of the African diaspora. This means dances that came from African people who moved to other parts of the world. She learned from famous anthropologists. They saw her great talent in studying dance through cultures. She was very inspired by their ideas. For example, she learned that culture includes rituals, beliefs, and art forms. She also saw how African and African American cultures were connected. She learned that Black Americans kept many African traditions in their dances. This connection between dance and social life gave her the idea for "Dance Anthropology."

In 1935, Dunham received grants to travel and study. She went to Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad. She studied the dance forms in the Caribbean. For example, she looked at how dance was part of Haitian Vodou. She also worked with Professor Melville Herskovits. His ideas about African culture staying alive among African Americans helped her research.

After her trip, Dunham returned to Chicago in 1936. In August, she earned her bachelor's degree in social anthropology. She was one of the first African-American women to get these degrees from the university. In 1938, she wrote a thesis called The Dances of Haiti. This was for her master's degree. But she realized she had to choose between dance performance and academic research. Even though she was offered another grant for her studies, she chose dance. She knew that through dance, she could reach more people than through academic work. So, she left for Broadway and Hollywood.

Even though she chose dance, Dunham always said anthropology was important to her. She said, "without [anthropology] I don't know what I would have done." She learned how to understand herself and others. She believed you can't learn about dances without learning about people.

Exploring Cultures Through Fieldwork

Katherine Dunham's fieldwork in the Caribbean began in Jamaica. She lived for several months in a remote village called Accompong. This village was deep in the mountains. She later wrote a book, Journey to Accompong, about her time there.

Then she traveled to Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago. She stayed for short periods to study Shango. This is an African god still important in West Indian religious culture. In early 1936, she arrived in Haiti. She stayed there for many months. This was the first of her many long visits to Haiti.

While in Haiti, Dunham studied Vodun rituals. She took many notes, especially on the dancers' movements. She wrote down her findings and learned the dance techniques, music, and songs. This way of doing research, called participant observation, was new in anthropology. But it is now a common practice. She was one of the first researchers to use her studies of Afro-Haitian dance. She wanted to correct wrong ideas about African culture. She believed that African art and dance were very important to American dance.

Years later, after much study in Haiti, she became a mambo in the Vodun religion. She also became friends with Dumarsais Estimé, who later became president of Haiti. She even helped him when he was in danger for his ideas.

A Life in Dance and Choreography

Early Dance Career (1928-1938)

Katherine Dunham in 1940, by Carl Van Vechten

Dunham's dance career started in Chicago. In 1928, while still in college, she began studying ballet. Her teachers included Ludmilla Speranzeva, Mark Turbyfill, and Ruth Page. She also learned "Oriental" dance from Vera Mirova. Through her ballet teachers, she learned about Spanish, East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance styles.

In 1931, at age 21, Dunham formed Ballets Nègres. This was one of the first Black ballet companies in the United States. They performed her dance, Negro Rhapsody. After this successful show, the group broke up. Her teacher, Speranzeva, encouraged her to focus on modern dance. So, in 1933, Dunham opened her first dance school. She called it the Negro Dance Group. Here, she taught young Black dancers about their African heritage.

From 1934 to 1936, Dunham performed with the Chicago Opera ballet company. Ruth Page created a ballet called La Guiablesse. It was based on a Martinican folk tale. Katherine Dunham took the lead role in 1934. Students from her Negro Dance Group also performed. Her dance career paused in 1935 when she got money to travel. She went to Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, and Haiti for 18 months. She studied their dance cultures. This trip led to her master's thesis, "The Dances of Haiti."

After college, Dunham decided to focus on performing. She brought her dance group back together. In 1937, they went to New York for A Negro Dance Evening. Her group performed West Indian dances and a ballet called Tropic Death. Back in Chicago, the company performed at the Goodman Theater. Dunham created famous dances like Rara Tonga and Woman with a Cigar. These became signature pieces for her company. She was then chosen to be the dance director for the Chicago Negro Theater Unit. She choreographed Run Li'l Chil'lun and other works like The Emperor Jones.

Around this time, Dunham met John Pratt, a designer. They later married. Together, they created L'Ag'Ya, which first showed in 1938. This three-part dance used elements of a Martinique fighting dance.

Touring and Film Success (1939-1950s)

In 1939, Dunham's company performed in Chicago and Cincinnati. Then they returned to New York. Dunham was asked to create a new dance for the musical Pins and Needles 1940. Her company also performed their own show, Tropics and Le Hot Jazz. It was so popular that they performed it for ten more Sundays.

Because of this success, the whole company joined the 1940 Broadway show Cabin in the Sky. It was directed by George Balanchine and starred Ethel Waters. Dunham played the role of Georgia Brown. The show ran for 20 weeks in New York and then toured the West Coast.

After the tour, the Dunham company stayed in Los Angeles. They appeared in the short film Carnival of Rhythm (1941). The next year, Dunham was in the movie Star Spangled Rhythm (1942). She also danced in Pardon My Sarong (1942) and the musical Stormy Weather (1943).

The company returned to New York. In 1943, their show Tropical Review opened at the Martin Beck Theater. It featured lively Latin American and Caribbean dances. The show was a huge hit. It ran for three months and then toured the U.S. and Canada. In Boston, the show was banned in 1944. Some people thought the costumes and dances were too revealing. After the tour, in 1945, the company performed in Blue Holiday and Carib Song. The finale of Carib Song was Shango, a dance based on a Vodun ritual. This became a regular part of their shows.

In 1946, Dunham returned to Broadway with Bal Nègre. Critics loved it. In 1947, she choreographed Windy City in Chicago. Later that year, she opened a show in Las Vegas. She then took her troupe to Mexico, where they performed for over two months. After Mexico, Dunham began touring in Europe. She was an instant sensation. In 1948, she opened A Caribbean Rhapsody in London and Paris.

This began over 20 years of Dunham performing mostly outside the United States. Her company performed in about 33 countries. They were very popular everywhere. But the company often faced money problems. Dunham had to support 30 to 40 dancers and musicians.

Dunham and her company appeared in the Hollywood movie Casbah (1948). They were also in the Italian film Botta e Risposta. In 1948, they appeared on the first ever hour-long American TV special by NBC. They also had TV specials filmed in London, Buenos Aires, and other cities.

In 1950, Katherine Dunham and Her Company performed a dance show in New York. It closed after only 38 performances. The company then toured South America, Europe, and North Africa. They were very successful in Denmark and France. In the mid-1950s, Dunham and her company appeared in three more films: Mambo (1954), Die Grosse Starparade (1954), and Música en la Noche (1955).

Later Career Highlights

The Dunham company's international tours ended in Vienna in 1960. They were stuck without money. Dunham arranged for them to be paid to appear on a German TV special. Then they returned to the United States. Dunham's last Broadway show was Bamboche! in 1962. It was not a success.

A special moment in Dunham's later career was when the Metropolitan Opera asked her to choreograph dances for their show Aida. In 1963, she became the first African American to choreograph for the Met since 1933. Critics noted her research on ancient Egyptian dance.

After this, Dunham took on other choreography jobs. In 1966, she represented the U.S. at the first World Festival of Negro Arts in Senegal. In 1967, she officially retired. She gave a final show at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Even in retirement, Dunham kept choreographing. One of her big works was directing the opera Treemonisha in 1972.

In 1978, Dunham was featured in a PBS special called Divine Drumbeats. Alvin Ailey later created a tribute to her in 1987–88. It was called The Magic of Katherine Dunham.

Teacher and Author

Katherine Dunham 1963

In 1945, Dunham opened the Katherine Dunham School of Dance and Theatre. It was near Times Square in New York City. Her dance company got free studio space for three years. The school started with 350 students.

The school taught dance, drama, and performing arts. It also offered courses in cultural studies and Caribbean research. In 1947, it became the Katherine Dunham School of Cultural Arts. The school was very successful for about 10 years. It was considered one of the best learning centers of its kind. Other schools inspired by it opened in Stockholm, Paris, and Rome.

Many future famous people attended her school. These included Eartha Kitt, who became a dancer with Dunham's company. Other students included James Dean, Gregory Peck, Sidney Poitier, and Shirley MacLaine. Marlon Brando often came to play the bongo drums. Jazz musician Charles Mingus held jam sessions there.

Dunham created a special dance teaching method. It was later called the Dunham Technique. This style of movement was based on traditional African dances. It became famous worldwide and is still taught today.

By 1957, Dunham was feeling very stressed. She decided to live in Kyoto, Japan for a year. There, she wrote memoirs about her youth. The first book, A Touch of Innocence, came out in 1959. Another book, Island Possessed, was about her experiences in Haiti. A fictional book, Kasamance: A Fantasy, was published in 1974. Throughout her career, Dunham also wrote articles about her research. She sometimes gave lectures at universities.

In 1963, Dunham choreographed Aida at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Her background as an anthropologist made the dances more real. She also advised on the costumes.

In 1964, Dunham moved to East St. Louis. She became an artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. There, she brought together different experts. They created a special arts curriculum. One of her colleagues was the architect Buckminster Fuller.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Dunham to be a cultural adviser to Senegal in West Africa. Her job was to help train the Senegalese National Ballet. She also helped with the First Pan-African World Festival of Negro Arts. Later, Dunham made a second home in Senegal. She often returned there to find talented African musicians and dancers.

In 1967, Dunham opened the Performing Arts Training Center (PATC) in East St. Louis. She wanted to use the arts to help fight poverty and problems in the city. After the 1968 riots, Dunham encouraged gang members to come to the center. They used drumming and dance to express their feelings. The PATC staff included former dancers from Dunham's company. While helping young people, Dunham was arrested. This made international news, and she was quickly released. She also kept teaching the Dunham Technique. She lectured every summer in St. Louis. Students from all over the world came to learn from her. She also created the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities. This was to save Haitian and African items from her collection.

In 1976, Dunham was a guest artist at the University of California, Berkeley. An exhibit honoring her, Kaiso! Katherine Dunham, was shown there. In 1978, a book of writings by and about her was also published.

The Dunham Technique

The Dunham Technique is a special dance training method. Katherine Dunham created it in the mid-1900s. It is a modern dance style. It uses movements from traditional African and Afro-Caribbean dances. It is based on her research in the Caribbean.

The technique uses rhythm as a key part of modern dance. It includes ideas like contracting and releasing muscles. It also focuses on being grounded and balanced. Dunham combined these ideas with ballet and modern dance. She created a set of class exercises called "processions." These exercises prepare the body for later, more complex movements.

Videos of Dunham Technique classes show a focus on body alignment, breathing, and fluid movement. Dancers learn to put weight on the balls of their feet. They also learn to lengthen their spine and breathe from their stomach. A big part of the training is learning to move the upper and lower body with different rhythms at the same time. These exercises prepare dancers for African social and spiritual dances.

Dunham said she created her technique because she needed special dancers for her shows. She also wanted a dance style that could express what she wanted to say. She admired ballet but wanted a movement style that captured the spirit of Afro-Caribbean dancers. Dunham described her technique as "a way of life." Many of her students agree. Her free classes in East St. Louis were a safe place for many. Some students say her classes helped them succeed in life. The Dunham Technique also includes movements from other cultures, like karate and capoeira.

The Dunham Technique is still taught at famous dance schools. These include The American Dance Festival and The Ailey School.

Working for Social Justice

The Katherine Dunham Company toured North America in the mid-1940s. They performed in the racially segregated South. Dunham refused to perform in one theater. She found out that Black people were not allowed to buy tickets. In October 1944, after a standing ovation in Louisville, Kentucky, she spoke to the all-white audience. She said her company would not return because "your management will not allow people like you to sit next to people like us." She hoped that time and the "war for tolerance and democracy" would bring change. One historian noted that Dunham became a strong activist because of these problems.

In Hollywood, Dunham refused a big movie contract. The producer wanted her to replace some of her darker-skinned dancers. She and her company often had trouble finding places to stay while touring. Many hotels in the country did not allow Black Americans.

The U.S. State Department gave Dunham very little help. This was even though she was seen as representing American culture abroad. She had upset officials when her company performed Southland. This ballet showed the lynching of a Black man in the racist American South. Its first show in Chile in 1950 caused a lot of interest. The State Department was unhappy that the ballet showed a negative view of American society. Because of this, Dunham faced some diplomatic problems on her tours. The State Department often helped other groups. But they refused to support her company, even when it performed for U.S. Army troops.

The Afonso Arinos Law in Brazil

In 1950, Dunham and her group visited Brazil. They were refused rooms at a top hotel in São Paulo. This hotel was popular with many American business people. Dunham realized it was because of racial discrimination. She made sure the incident was widely known. It was discussed a lot in the Brazilian news. In response, Brazil passed the Afonso Arinos law in 1951. This law made racial discrimination in public places a crime in Brazil.

Hunger Strike for Haiti

In 1992, at age 83, Dunham went on a public hunger strike. She was protesting the unfair U.S. policy against Haitian boat-people. Time magazine reported that she went on a 47-day hunger strike. She was protesting the U.S. sending Haitian refugees back home. She said, "My job is to create a useful legacy." During her protest, many famous people came to support her.

This protest brought international attention to the problems of Haitian refugees. Dunham ended her fast only after Haiti's exiled president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and Jesse Jackson asked her to stop. President Aristide later gave her Haiti's highest honor.

Personal Life

Dunham married Jordis McCoo in 1931. He was a postal worker. They grew apart and divorced in 1938. Around that time, Dunham met John Thomas Pratt. He was a famous costume and theater designer. Pratt was white and shared Dunham's interest in African-Caribbean cultures. He became her artistic partner and they fell in love. In 1941, they had a commitment ceremony in Mexico. Inter-racial marriages were less controversial there. This ceremony was not legally recognized in the U.S. They officially married in Las Vegas in 1949. They adopted a 14-month-old French baby girl named Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt. She was their only child. Pratt designed all of Dunham's sets and costumes until he died in 1986.

When not performing, Dunham and Pratt often visited Haiti. In the late 1940s, she bought a large property there. It was called Habitation Leclerc. Dunham used it as a private retreat. She often brought her dance company members there to relax. They also worked on new dance productions. She later sold the property in the early 1970s.

In 1949, Dunham returned to the U.S. after touring. She had a temporary breakdown after her brother Albert died too young. He was a promising philosophy professor. During this time, she became good friends with the psychologist Erich Fromm. She was friends with many famous people around the world. In 1951, a photo of Dunham dancing with Prince Ali Khan appeared in a magazine. This led to rumors that they were romantically linked. Both Dunham and the prince denied it. The prince was married to Rita Hayworth. Dunham was now legally married to John Pratt.

Among Dunham's closest friends were Julie Robinson and her husband, Harry Belafonte. They remained close friends until Dunham's death.

Death

On May 21, 2006, Katherine Dunham died peacefully in her sleep. She was in New York City. She passed away a month before her 97th birthday.

Lasting Impact

Impact on Anthropology

Katherine Dunham was a pioneer in anthropology. She showed new ways to study and understand cultures. She did this decades before others in her field.

In the 1970s, scholars started talking about how anthropology had been part of colonialism. They said researchers should help the communities they study. Katherine Dunham's work showed how anthropology could challenge racist ideas. She studied important dance traditions of the African diaspora. Then she used this knowledge to create her own dance teaching method. This helped to heal the effects of colonization and racism. Her dance education gave cultural strength to Black Americans. It also gave them hope and dignity. It inspired her students to help their communities.

Like her friend Zora Neale Hurston, Dunham's anthropology blended with creative arts. She chose dance over finishing her master's degree in anthropology. She said, "My problem... was to remain in this academic position that anthropology gave me, and at the same time continue with this strong drive for motion." She chose dance because she knew it would reach more people than academic work.

But this choice did not stop her from influencing anthropology. As one of her biographers wrote, "anthropology became a life-way" for Dunham. Her dances used a concept called "research-to-performance." This means she used her research to create her performances. Dunham's work questioned many ideas in anthropology. She challenged ideas about what is "modern" and how cultures are understood. She also fought against judging other cultures. Many Black women, like Dunham, worked to make anthropology a field that helped people.

Scholars say Dunham was key to dance education and applied anthropology. She was also important for African Diasporic Anthropology. She was named one of the most influential African American anthropologists. She started Dance Anthropology and created new ways to study dance in cultures. Her work gives important history to today's talks about decolonization. Her legacy in anthropology and dance anthropology continues to shine.

Impact on Dance

Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic, called Dunham "a major pioneer in Black theatrical dance." She said Dunham was "ahead of her time." Dunham introduced real African dance movements to her company and audiences. She greatly expanded what modern dance could be.

One of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote that every American Black dancer today has been influenced by the Dunham Technique. This is unless they only do classical ballet. The Dunham Technique is still taught in many modern dance schools.

Dance magazine featured Dunham in 2000. They called her a "One-Woman Revolution." Wendy Perron wrote that jazz dance and other styles have roots in Dunham's work. She was the first American dancer to bring traditional forms to the stage. She was also the first to lead a Black dance company for a long time. She created dances for stage, clubs, and Hollywood films. She started a school and a technique that are still strong today. She also fought tirelessly for racial justice.

Writer Harold Cruse said in 1964 that Dunham's search for meaning for Black people helped many artists. He said she created chances and started careers for generations of young Black artists. He noted that Afro-American dance was often ahead of its time in modern dance.

Black writer Arthur Todd called her "one of our national treasures." He said American Black dance began to rise when Katherine Dunham and her company became famous in New York in 1940. He said she opened doors for the current generation of dancers. Dunham gave modern dance a clear way to use African and Caribbean movements. This included a flexible torso, isolated body parts, and moving with different rhythms. She combined this with ballet and modern dance techniques. Her control of movement was amazing. She was praised for her smooth and flowing dances. She filled the stage with beauty and power.

Richard Buckle, a ballet historian, wrote that her company did more for her people than a million pamphlets. He said her success as an explorer, thinker, and dancer helped her people greatly.

Dunham's success in Europe led to many imitations of her work. Her performances deeply changed how theatrical dance was seen in Europe.

While in Europe, she also influenced hat styles and fashion collections. A French museum even made a bronze cast of her feet.

The Katherine Dunham Company helped many famous performers get their start. These included Archie Savage, Talley Beatty, and Eartha Kitt.

Alvin Ailey said he wanted to be a professional dancer after seeing the Katherine Dunham Company perform. He called the Dunham Technique "the closest thing to a unified Afro-American dance existing."

For several years, Dunham's assistant was Maya Deren. Deren later became interested in Vodun. She is now seen as a pioneer of independent American filmmaking. Dunham herself was involved in the Vodou and Orisa communities.

Dunham not only showed the value of Black dance. She also helped change how Black people were seen in America. She showed that a Black woman could be a smart scholar, a beautiful dancer, and a skilled choreographer. As Julia Foulkes said, Dunham succeeded by making high art from African and Caribbean sources. She used the rich dance heritage of the African Diaspora. This raised how people viewed African American abilities.

Awards and Honors

Katherine Dunham received many special awards over the years. This includes more than a dozen honorary doctorates from American universities.

In 1971, she received the Heritage Award from the National Dance Association.
In 1979, she received the Albert Schweitzer Music Award. This was for her life's work dedicated to music and humanity.
In 1983, she received one of the highest artistic awards in the U.S., the Kennedy Center Honors.
In 1986, the American Anthropological Association gave her a Distinguished Service Award.
In 1987, she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. She was also added to the National Museum of Dance's Hall of Fame. She also received a Candace Award.
In 1989, she was given a National Medal of Arts. Only two other University of Chicago alumni have received this honor.
Dunham has her own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
In 2000, she was named one of "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures."
In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante included her in his book 100 Greatest African Americans.
In 2004, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Dance Teacher magazine.
In 2005, she received an award for "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research."

Images for kids

Katherine Dunham in 1956.
Katherine Dunham in Tropical Review, Martin Beck Theatre
Katherine Dunham in 1940, by Carl Van Vechten
Katherine Dunham 1963