Katherine Dunham

Known as the "Queen Mother" and "Matriarch of Black Dance", Dunham (1909-2006) pioneered a new form of artistic expression by fusing her anthropological studies of Caribbean cultures with modern dance techniques, creating the Dunham Technique which is still widely taught today. She formed one of the first black ballet companies, the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, through which she showcased the beauty and power of the Dunham Technique's African diasporic dance movements. One of the company's celebrated works was the 1948 piece Caribbean Rhapsody, which featured a remarkable performance by the then 21-year-old Eartha Kitt. The company also achieved acclaim through Broadway and Hollywood performances that brought the Dunham Technique to global audiences.

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Books: ‍

1. Dee Das, Joanna. Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora, Oxford Academic, 2017)

Collections & Papers:

1. Katherine Dunham Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Souther Illinois University Carbondale (SIU). This collection was donated to SIU by Katherine Dunham and includes correspondence, photographs, notes on dance techniques, scripts, writings, sheet music, documents from the Dunham Company, playbills, drawings, costumes, media clippings, awards, and more. Correspondents include: Harry Belafonte, Doris Duke, Langston Hughes, and Paul Robeson.
2. Katherine Dunham, FBI file, by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, upon a FOIA request from Mr. William Maxwell, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Illinois.

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