Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance company for many years. She has been called the “matriarch and queen mother of black dance.”
While a student at the University of Chicago, Dunham also performed as a dancer, ran a dance school and earned an early bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Receiving a postgraduate academic fellowship, she went to the Caribbean to study the African diaspora, ethnography and local dance. She returned to graduate school and submitted a master’s thesis to the anthropology faculty. She did not complete the other requirements for that degree, however, as she realized that her professional calling was performance and choreography.
At the height of her career in the 1940s and 1950s, Dunham was renowned throughout Europe and Latin America and was widely popular in the United States. The Washington Post called her “dancer Katherine the Great.” For almost 30 years she maintained the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the only self-supported American black dance troupe at that time. Over her long career, she choreographed more than ninety individual dances. Dunham was an innovator in African-American modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology, or ethnochoreology. She also developed the Dunham Technique, a method of movement to support her dance works.
I met Katherine at a benefit for her on Chicagos southside at a cultural center. She was in a wheel chair and having health concerns. Several dance companies were performing. I was there working with Ensemble Espanol. After we did a short set I was walking off stage and Katherine was there and she pulled me over to her, gave me a kiss and hug and said, “your really something.” I couldn’t believe that since I was only doing a simple accompaniment for the Ensemble. I felt empowered and inspired, what an honor. Thank You Katherine.