Katherine Dunham, dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist, was born in Glen Ellyn, IL, on this date June 22, 1909.
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.”
Dunham’s original goal was to analyze the dances of the Caribbean, but she soon recognized that this was much too extensive a task for one trip. Her revised agenda included a stop in Jamaica to study a Maroon village, which resulted in her first book, Journey to Accompong.
This was followed by visits to several other islands before her arrival in Haiti where she stayed for nine months. Her work in Haiti resulted in her thesis, “The Dances of Haiti: Their Social Organization, Classification, Form, and Function” and another book, Island Possessed. These pioneering dance/anthropology works were significant first steps toward the now recognized sub discipline of dance anthropology.
“Do yourself a favor and learn how to walk away. When a connection starts to fade, learn how to let it go. When a person starts to mistreat you, learn how to move on … to something and someone better. Don’t waste your energy trying to force something that isn’t meant to be.” - Reyna Biddy
