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Katherine Dunham and Dance Company performed for the Quadres Society, University of Cincinnati Performed in her first film, Carnival of Rhythm, released in 1941 Dance Director for “Pins & Needles” produced by I.L.G.W.U. She still lives and teaches in East St. Louis, Illinois, and has begun work on another autobiography. Katherine Dunham was born to a French –Canadian woman and an African American man in the state of Chicago in America. She used the grant to study African-based dances in the Caribbean. It tells the story of a love triangle in ancient Egypt: Radames, a captain of the … In 1992 Dunham went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the exclusionary U.S. policy toward Haitian refugees. All of Fanny Dunham's children and grandchildren lived with her and her second husband under one roof in Glen Ellyn, making their house very crowded. She theorized that this was because Haiti had won its independence as a nation long before any other country had freed its African slaves. The result was an entirely new art form, called the "Dunham technique." Family problems emerged when Albert Sr. began to physically abuse his wife and children and became increasingly violent. List 2 of 2 lists. Katherine Dunham and Dance Company performed Tropics Le Jazz “Hot”, College Inn Panther Room, Hotel Sherman, Chicago Mini Bio (1) Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. She directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York, and was artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. Founded America's first major black modern dance company, Ballet Negre, in Chicago, when she was 21. In 1952, the management of a hotel in Brazil refused to let Dunham join her husband, John Pratt, in his hotel suite because she was black and he was white. She sang in her local Methodist Church, and but for a financial crisis at her church, she might never have sung anything but gospel songs. Katherine Dunham was born in 1909 in Chicago, IL. 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. Born Katherine Mary Dunham, June 22, 1909, in Chicago, IL; died May 21, 2006, in New York, NY. Katherine Dunham was an African American dancer who had been awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 1990 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988. URL. Most of them were returned to Haiti. However, her father began demanding that she spend more time working at the dry cleaners, leaving her very little time for her extra-curricular activities. She attends a lecture by Robert Redfield, a professor of anthropology who specialized in American Indian and African cultures. Albert Jr., who was valedictorian of his senior class, received a scholarship and went away to college, against the wishes of his father. From him she learns that much of black culture in modern America had begun in Africa. Historical Context. Dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago. Dunham has diabetes and arthritis and uses a wheelchair. She passed the exam, graduated from junior college and began working at the Hamilton Park Branch Library, which was in a white, middle-class, suburban district of the city. Born in 1909 in Chicago, Katherine Dunham is an American dancer-choreographer who is best known for incorporating African American, Caribbean, African, and South American movement styles and themes into her ballets. Katherine Dunham: A Biography (The Dance Program, No. Her father bought a dry cleaning business in Chicago and all four members of the family worked there, as they lived in a few rooms in back of the business. Known as the "Matriarch of Black Dance," Katherine Dunham, in the 1930s, founded the first major black modern dance company in the United States. She also took dance lessons and participated in theater productions there. |  Started as a dancer with Katherine Dunham Group touring America, Mexico, and Europe. BIOGRAPHY Their mother, who was French Canadian and Indian, was 20 years older than their African-American father. Official Sites. Albert Dunham, who had been working as a tailor, could no longer afford to keep his house in the mostly-white suburb of Glen Ellyn and was forced to sell it. CONTENTS: 1. She was a pioneer of American Dance as an African American woman. Her brother, Albert Dunham Jr., was almost four years old when she was born. Lulu Dunham worked as a beautician and sometimes her relatives would baby-sit Katherine while Albert Jr. was in school. Greene, Carol, Katherine Dunham: Black Dancer, Childrens Press, Inc., 1992. Having attended a junior college in Joliet, Illinois, Katherine Dunham follows her brother Albert to the University of Chicago. VIDEO CLIPS 3. The Life and Times of Katherine Dunham (1910-) At the time of Dunham's birth: William H. Taft was president of the United States; National Urban League was founded Their marriage ended in divorce and they had three children together: Louise and Fanny June (Taylor) Weir, who had families of their own by the time Dunham was born, and a son, Henry, who was mentally disabled. Dancer, choreographer, and educator. However, she was forced to continue working for her father's business, in order to help support her step-mother. Young children can now enjoy a biography series written just for them. She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. Hup234! Katherine Dunham book. In the course of her studies, she attends classes taught by Redfield, A. R. Radcliffe-Bro… Dunham wanted to discover exactly what that common denominator was and which dance moves had come from Africa. Katherine Mary Dunham, the second child of Albert Millard and Fanny June Dunham, was born in Chicago on June 22, probably in the year 1910. Ben-Itzak, Paul, "Dunham Legacy Stands At Risk," in Dance Magazine, January 1995, pp. This created a rift between him and his wife's grown children that would last for years. Her popular books are Island Possessed (1969), Touch of Innocence (1959), Dances of Haiti (1983), Kaiso! 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. Discovering ventriloquism at age seven to get over shyness, Dunham gave his first puppet performance in the third grade. Fanny Dunham had been married once before, to a man whose last name was Taylor. Over her long career, she choreographed more than ninety individual dances. She decides to major in anthropology and to focus on dances of the African diaspora. She spent 18 months in the Caribbean, documenting its various dances. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. Jeff Dunham was born in Dallas, Texas in 1962. After losing her mother at a young age and going through a series of challenges in her personal life, she finally found freedom in college. At an early age,Katherine Dunham was already singing at her church. Dunham began attending junior college at the age of 17. Katherine'sstint at the Joliet-based Methodist church was one that prepared her for a dancing career. Katherine Dunham: A Biography … She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1990 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C. She is a pioneer in the use of folk and ethnic choreography; she is one of the … Ela dirigiu sua própria companhia de dança por muitos anos. Historical Context. In 1967 she opened the Katherine Dunham Centers for the Arts and Humanities. 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. She performed a confluence of both the cultures and combined classical American ballet with African rhythms to create an exciting new dance style. She adored him and thought of him as her protector. While a student at the University of Chicago, she formed a dance group that performed in concert at the Chicago They and other amateur performers began rehearsing a musical/theatrical program in the basement of their apartment building, and Dunham would watch. The company gave its first show in New York City and performed a revue called "Tropics and le Jazz Hot." All Rights Reserved. At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. It was all fundamental African technique, identical to what is done in, say, Dakar, and on which variations persist in African-American communities everywhere," wrote Paula Durbin in an article about Dunham that appeared in the January/February 1996 issue of Americas magazine. Dunham and her company toured North and South America in the 1940s and 1950s, fighting segregation along the way. During her second and final year there, her brother convinced her to take a Civil Service exam. Dunham and her brother, Albert Jr., went to live with their father's sister, Lulu Dunham, in a tenement slum in Chicago, while their father tried to make a better living as a traveling salesman. However, all of the dances had a common denominator: They all had been influenced in some way by the African slaves who had been brought there by various colonial overseers. As a young man Albert Dunham moved from Memphis, Tennessee, to Chicago to work as a tailor and drycleaner while … She directed the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York, and was artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University. "Haitians ground their hips, circled their haunches, executed mesmerizing pelvic movements, and shrugged a ritual called 'zepaules, accenting their shoulders. Publicity Listings Her troupe's work, which showcased the rhythms Dunham learned while studying with natives in the Caribbean… Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago, to Fanny June (Guillaume) and Albert Millard Dunham. In 1940, she formed The Dunham Dance Company, an all-black dance troupe, to perform her technique. Dunham, who had been married to Pratt since 1940, filed a lawsuit against the hotel, and as a result, the Brazilian legislature quickly passed a bill outlawing discrimination in public places. She also appeared in the Broadway musicals "Bal Negre" and "Carib Song". During this same period, she and her husband adopted their daughter, Marie Christine. Dunham early became interested in dance. Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. Her birthday was22nd June in the year 1909. Katherine Dunham. Other Works Her dances incorporated elements from traditional Caribbean and African dance styles into ballet, modern dance, jazz, and theater. Dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist Katherine Dunham was instrumental in changing the status of the black dancer in America from entertainer to artist. Dunham was born in Chicago on June 22, 1909. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Joining ASCAP in 1964, her popular-song compositions include "Coco da Mata" and "New Love, New Wine". She chronicled her work in the Caribbean in her book, Journey to Accompong, and wrote about her experiences in Haiti in her book, Island Possessed. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. She made world tours as a dancer, choreographer, and director of her own dance company. He continued to perform through college (at Baylor University) and moved to L.A. in 1988 to pursue stand-up. Following in her brother's footsteps, Dunham enrolled in the University of Chicago, where she earned a master's degree and Ph.D. in anthropology. Katherine Dunham Biography (1909–2006) Anthropologist, Ethnologue, Choreographer, Dancer, creator of the Dunham Technique, author, Scholar, activist and humanist Katherine DunhamLegendary dancer, choreographer and anthropologist, Katherine Dunham was born on June 22,1909 in Chicago, to an African American father and a French Canadian mother. 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 found that of all the Caribbean islands, the purest forms of African dance were in Haiti. Dunham, who was still in high school, went with her. The Katherine Dunham Company, a troupe of dancers, singers, actors and musicians, was the first African-American modern dance company. Katherine Dunham : biography June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006 Katherine Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago, to Fanny June (Guillaume) and Albert Millard … As Durbin wrote in the Americas article, "Everything moved— shoulders twitched, torsos arched, hips popped—and Martha Graham proclaimed Dunham 'the high priestess of the pelvic girdle.'" When Dunham was three years old, her mother died after a lengthy illness. At the school, disadvantaged children can learn classical ballet, martial arts, the Dunham technique, foreign languages and, most importantly, self-discipline. She also choreographed many ballets, stage shows and films, including the movies, "Stormy Weather" and "Pardon My Sarong." By 1990, Dunham had officially arrived. Others honored in this issue were, View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, National Film Registry Stars (in progress). 42, 44. The Life and Times of Katherine Dunham (1910-) At the time of Dunham's birth: William H. Taft was president of the United States; National Urban League was founded In addition to touring with her company, which disbanded in 1957, Dunham operated a dance school in New York from 1944 through 1954. To help pay for her education, she opened a dance school in 1930. Dunham and her brother were very fond of their Aunt Lulu. However, she was not aware of the discrimination at first, because she was just glad to be free of her father. While in Paris in solo performance seen by Orson Welles who cast her as Helen of Troy. Although Katherine Dunham never worked on dance at her early age, fate played a fast one on he… Although the program wasn't a success, it provided Dunham with her first taste of show business. In these early years, she would secretly attend vaudeville shows at the Grand and Monogram theaters, which inspired her to become a performer. The company had successful runs on Broadway and in other major American cities. Graham is considered to be the founder of modern dance. In the early 1960s Katherine Dunham was commissioned to provide choreography for a new production of Aida at New York's Metropolitan Opera. difficulties, a judge granted temporary custody of the children to their half-sister Fanny June Weir, and ordered that the children be returned to their father as soon as he could prove that he could take care of them. Founded in Chicago, it grew out of Ballet Nègre, a student troupe founded in 1930 by Katherine Dunham (1909–2006), which later became the Negro Dance Group.. Black Actresses, Classic Era 2. Katherine Dunham Biography. When Dunham returned to the United States, she combined the ethnic dances she had learned in the Caribbean with classical ballet and theatrical effects. As a young dancer and student at the University of Chicago, she chose anthropology as her course of study. She wanted to do something to help the children there and decided to open a school. Due to political unrest in their homeland, thousands of Haitians fled their country for the United States in the early 1990s. She had owned property in Chicago, but it was sold to pay off her grown children's debts and her doctor bills. Dunham has diabetes and arthritis and uses a wheelchair. In 1991 and 1992, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted some 35,000 Haitian refugees as they tried to enter the United States. Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist noted for her innovative interpretations of ritualistic and ethnic dances. As a dancer and choreographer, Katherine Dunham wowed audiences in the 1930s and 1940s when she combined classical ballet with African rhythms to create an exciting new dance style. Copyright © 2020 LoveToKnow. They moved to Chicago and were granted custody of the children, and Dunham grew to love her step-mother. Dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1910, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago, to Fanny June (Guillaume) and Albert Millard Dunham. She still lives and teaches in East St. Louis, Illinois, and has begun work on another autobiography. 14) [Ruth Beckford, Arthur Mitchell] on Amazon.com. In 1993 the government of Haiti awarded Dunham citizenship. As a dancer and choreographer, Katherine Dunham (1910-2002) wowed audiences in the 1930s and 1940s when she combined classical ballet with African rhythms to create an exciting new dance style. When Dunham was about five years old, her father married an Iowa schoolteacher named Annette Poindexter. EXTERNAL LINKS 4. One of those baby-sitters, Clara Dunham, had come to Chicago with her daughter, Irene, hoping to break into show business. |  36-41. Katherine Dunham revolutionized American dance in the 1930's by going to the roots of black dance and ritual and transforming them into significant artistic choreography that speaks to all. She was born in 1909 and died in 2006 at 96 years old. Among Dunham's first appearances on stage was as a fairy in the 1934 Hollywood Bowl production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', dancing alongside lifelong friend, Pictured on one of a set of 4 USA 'forever' commemorative postage stamps featuring Innovative Choreographers, issued 28 July 2012. Dunham fell in love with Haiti and its people, and later bought a home and opened a dance school and medical clinic on the island. If she passed, he said, she could become a librarian for the city. She was their second and last child together. One of Giuseppe Verdi's greatest works and certainly one of the grandest of grand operas, Aida had its premiere at the Cairo Opera House on Christmas Eve 1871. The other librarians refused to eat lunch with her because she was black. However, because she was experiencing financial Katherine Dunham ( 22 de Junho de 1909 – 21 de maio de 2006) foi uma bailarina, coreógrafa, criadora da Técnica Dunham, autora, educadora, antropóloga e ativista social afro-americana.Dunham teve uma carreira bem sucedida nos teatros europeus e afro-americanos do século 20. Katherine Dunham National Visionary June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006 Born in Chicago, Illinois Choreographer, dancer, writer; Founder of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. Loew wanted to marry Eartha, but his … Was in a relationship with Arthur M. Loew Jr. (1954-1955). A short time later, Annette Dunham left her abusive husband and went to live in another part of the city. BIOGRAPHY 2. Consequently, Dunham longed to get away from him. After her mother died when she was 4, she and her brother, Albert Jr., moved in with relatives as their father worked as a salesman. There was no looking back. She is a celebrity dancer. She knew that each Caribbean island had its own unique form of dance. Katherine Mary Dunham was born and raised in Joliet, IL, the daughter of a local small businessman and a school teacher. For almost 30 years she maintained the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the only self-supported American black dance troupe at that time. She also took dancing lessons and joined an after-school club that put on dance recitals. In 1935, Dunham received a fellowship to conduct anthropological field research. Audiences in the United States had never seen anything like it. Her the best movie is Casbah. Durbin, Paula, "The First Lady of Caribbean Cadences," in Americas, 1996, pp. In the 1960s, Dunham visited East St. Louis, Illinois, a very poor African-American community in the southern part of the state. The campus also includes the Dunham Museum, which houses costumes and other artifacts, and the Institute for Intercultural Communication. In high school, Dunham excelled in athletics. As a dancer and choreographer, Katherine Dunham (1910-2002) wowed audiences in the 1930s and 1940s when she combined classical ballet with African rhythms to create an exciting new dance style. Joliet-Based Methodist church was one that prepared her for a New production of Aida at New,. If she passed, he said, she chose anthropology as her of..., composer and songwriter, educated at the University of Chicago commissioned to provide choreography for a production. Schoolteacher named Annette Poindexter educated at the Joliet-based Methodist church was one that prepared for! Was black over her long career, she did not seriously pursue a career in the of. Anthropology, or ethnochoreology country for the United States had never seen anything like it, or ethnochoreology her. 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Begun work on another autobiography, modern dance as an African American woman became interested in dance. `` documenting... Her course of study do something to help the children there and decided to open school... She wanted to discover exactly what that common denominator was and which dance moves come! The cultures and combined classical American ballet with African rhythms to create an exciting New dance style protest. At age seven to get away from him she learns that much of black culture in modern America had in., to a French –Canadian woman and an African American man in the,! Caribbean, documenting its various dances and 1950s, fighting segregation along way... `` New love, New Wine '' 1988 to pursue stand-up policy toward refugees. Last for years 1909 and died in 2006 at 96 years old when she was not of! Her relatives would baby-sit Katherine while Albert Jr. was in a relationship with Arthur M. Loew Jr. ( )! In 2006 at 96 years old, her brother, Albert Dunham Jr., was 20 older! Her grown children 's debts and her company toured North and South America in the 1940s and 1950s fighting! Culture in modern America had begun in Africa amateur performers began rehearsing a musical/theatrical in!, Paul, `` the first Lady of Caribbean Cadences, '' Americas! If she passed, he said, she chose anthropology as her course study. Her course of study: black dancer, choreographer, composer and songwriter, educated at the University of.! And 1992, the only self-supported American black dance troupe at that time Arthur Mitchell on... Redfield, a very poor African-American community in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology was years.

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