It next moved to the West Coast for an extended run of performances there. Two years later she formed an all-Black company, which began touring extensively by 1943. Kantherine Dunham passed away of natural causes on May 21, 2006, one month before her 97th birthday. Dunham was exposed to sacred ritual dances performed by people on the islands of Haiti and Jamaica. [6] At the age of 15, she organized "The Blue Moon Caf", a fundraising cabaret to raise money for Brown's Methodist Church in Joliet, where she gave her first public performance. She had one of the most successful dance careers in Western dance theatre in the 20th century and directed her own dance company for many years. She majored in anthropology at the University of Chicago, and after learning that much of Black . Dancer. (She later wrote Journey to Accompong, a book describing her experiences there.) Additionally, she worked closely with Vera Mirova who specialized in "Oriental" dance. Katherine Dunham, pseudonym Kaye Dunn, (born June 22, 1909, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, U.S.died May 21, 2006, New York, New York), American dancer and choreographer who was a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology. Her father, Albert Millard Dunham, was a descendant of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar. Katherine Dunham. [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. I Took A Katherine Dunham-Technique Dance Class And Learned - Essence Many of her students, trained in her studios in Chicago and New York City, became prominent in the field of modern dance. 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. While Dunham was recognized as "unofficially" representing American cultural life in her foreign tours, she was given very little assistance of any kind by the U.S. State Department. As one of her biographers, Joyce Aschenbrenner, wrote: "anthropology became a life-way"[2] for Dunham. The prince was then married to actress Rita Hayworth, and Dunham was now legally married to John Pratt; a quiet ceremony in Las Vegas had taken place earlier in the year. [36] Her classes are described as a safe haven for many and some of her students even attribute their success in life to the structure and artistry of her technical institution. 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. At this time Dunham first became associated with designer John Pratt, whom she later married. Katherine Dunham - Dance

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