Today we celebrate the life + spirit of the legendary #KatherineDunham. Born this day in Chicago, she transformed the technique and creative talents of young, Black dancers across the West Indies, United States, and Africa. While at the University of Chicago, Mama Dunham was one of the first Black women to attend and graduate with a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degree in Anthropology.
Simultaneously, Mama Dunham trained in #Moscow, performed ‘A Negro Rhapsody’ at the Chicago Beaux Arts Theater🎫, danced with the Chicago Opera Company, and accepted an invitation to appear before Rosenwald Foundation which tremendously supported her dance career. Mama Dunham returned her gifts to her community by revolutionizing American modern dance. ✨
Her fusion of traditional African movements into anthropological dance showed the world that African heritage is beautiful. More importantly, Mama Dunham is recognized for bringing Caribbean and African influences to a European-dominated dance realm. In the 1950s, the "Matriarch of Black Dance", Mama Dunham founded the Katherine Dunham Company to formally teach a groundbreaking sequence that combines the innovative interpretations of Caribbean dances, traditional ballet, African rituals, and African American rhythm to create the Dunham Technique.
"Throughout her distinguished career, Katherine Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. Among the list are: the Presidential Medal of Arts, The Kennedy Center Honors with Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Elia Kazan and Virgil Thompson, the plaque d'Honneur Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce Award, French Legion of Honor, Southern Cross of Brazil, Grand Cross of Haiti, NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, The Albert Schweitzer Music Award at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Academy Laureate, and the Urban Leagues’ Lifetime Achievement Award. Miss Dunham’s recognitions also include a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, inclusion in the book I Have a Dream, and the Women's International Center’s Living Legacy Award. In her final years, she received an Honorary Degree in Fine Arts from Harvard and Jacobs Pillow gave a special Tribute to Katherine Dunham for her 93rd birthday. In 2000 Katherine Dunham was named America’s irreplaceable Dance Treasure." (SOURCE)
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