| Other author/creator | Dunham, Katherine interviewee. |
| Other author/creator | Richardson, Julieanna L., interviewer. |
| Other author/creator | Bieschke, Paul, director of photography. |
| Other author/creator | HistoryMakers (Video oral history collection), production company. |
| Variant title |
History Makers video oral history with Katherine Dunham |
| Portion of title |
Katherine Dunham |
| Abstract |
Choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was African American, while Dunham's mother was French-Canadian. Dunham became interested in dance at an early age but she did not seriously pursue a dance career until she was a student at the University of Chicago. Dunham began to study the African roots of dance and, in 1935, traveled to the Caribbean for field research. She returned to the United States in 1936, informed by new methods of movement and expression that she incorporated into techniques that transformed the world of dance. In 1940, she formed the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. Called the "Matriarch of Black Dance," her groundbreaking repertoire combined innovative interpretations of Caribbean dances, traditional ballet, African rituals and African American rhythms to create the Dunham Technique. Katherine Dunham passed away on May 21, 2006 at age 96. |
| Credits | Videographer, Paul Bieschke. |
| Performer |
Julieanna L. Richardson, interviewer. |
| Date/time/place of a event note | Recorded New York, New York 2000 December 17. |
| Source of description | Vendor-supplied metadata. |
| Genre/form | Internet videos. |
| Genre/form | Interviews. |
| Genre/form | Nonfiction films. |
| Genre/form | Oral histories. |
| Genre/form | Oral histories. |
| Genre/form | Internet videos. |
| Genre/form | Nonfiction films. |
| Stock number | A2000.020 HistoryMakers |
