Katherine Dunham
A daily Black History Month fact that has nothing to do with George Washington Carver, MLK, Jr., or Harriet Tubman. Promise!
Katherine Dunham was a dancer, choreographer, actress who performed in Broadway’s Cabin in the Sky and in like movies Star Spangled Rhythm (1941), Pardon My Sarong (1942), and the black musical, Stormy Weather (1943). In 1945, Dunham opened a dance and theater school, where she taught a young Eartha Kitt, James Dean, Shelly Winters, and Warren Beatty, among others. Despite her dedication to dance, Dunham was also outspoken about civil rights — she once refused to sign a Hollywood studio contract after execs requested she replace some of the darker members of her company and she frequently refused to play at venues that did not allow blacks. At the age of 82, she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the U.S.’s policy to repatriate Haitian refugees. Dunham, who was also a writer and anthropologist, died in May of 2006 at the age of 97.
This concludes your daily dose of BHM.
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Thanks for this! I majored in Anthropology, so the nerd in me is really excited to learn more about her.
Thanks so much for posting this. I handle the Detroit Dunham Blog. I’ve studied the Dunham technique since I was 3. The most important thing that Ms. Dunham wanted people to about her is that she thought of herself as not only a pioneer of Black dance - but as a Pioneer of ALL dance. She was so fab and her memory lives on and so does her technique.
Great job of reminding people about her.
I would like to know the name of this person in Detroit who studied Dunham Technique since the age of three. Are you someone who teaches my mother’s Technique? If so wonderful, if you are Certified.
Thank you
Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt
We really lost a treasure when she passed. Can anyone name someone is our age group who is on her level of greatness.