While at the University, Dunham met choreographer Ruth
Page and ballet dancer Mark Turbyfill at the playhouse, both of them are the
member of the Chicago Opera Company. They opened a dance studio together,
calling their students the "Ballet Negre,” as black dancers.
Dunham
returned to Chicago and organized a black dance by black artists specifically
for African-American dance companies. Dunham moved to New York City in
1939, she became director of the New York labor stage. Katherine Dunham Dance
Company appeared on Broadway, beginning a successful tour. Dunham ran her dance
company with no government funding, so she earned extra money by appeared in
Hollywood movies.
In 1945, Dunham opened the Dunham School of Dance and
Theater in Manhattan. Her dance school offer dance, drama, performing arts,
humanities, cultural studies and Caribbean studies etc.
Katherine Dunham and Her Company Town Square
Dance Sequence
dance in Martissant,Haiti(1962)
Even in the 1940's when blacks still weren't treated as fairly as whites (with segregation still being in place and the Civil Rights Act not being passed for another 20+ years), it is very comforting to see that people like Turbyfill and Page (an Indiana native) were there to help people like Dunham, minorities, succeed in dance without being racist or discouraging. This just goes to show that even people with huge disadvantages in life can still make their mark on history if they meet the right people.
ReplyDeleteI never realized Page was a Hoosier, I always associate her with Chicago!
DeleteIts amazing to see that a woman of color was able to accomplish so much during this period in history when so many odds were stacked against her. I applaud her ability to overcome these intense social obstacles in her way. Ruth Page dance center is still alive today and it is somewhere I have taken class. I didn't even know that Katherine Dunham was involved with Ruth Page. You learn something new everyday!
ReplyDeleteI find her choreography to be so enticing because of how lively it is. I think that she is a good role model of someone who can accomplish so much no matter the circumstances and I'm pleased that she is still relevant in the dance world today.
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