Dancing Against the Odds

Since we were talking about minority artists in class, I wanted to blog about Katherine Dunham because of her determination to do what she loves. Being an African-American as well as a woman, she had odds stacked against her to become successful. This did not stop her in the slightest. Not only did she complete her doctorate in anthropology, she also toured the world with her own dance company. She went above and beyond to get her inspiration. The book says she went to all kinds of places like Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique, and Haiti to research dance. Katherine Dunham gives hope to people to be successful no matter what social standing they are in. Here is an example of one of the dances she performed:

This is actually from the film Stormy Weather that Katherine Dunham and her troupe performed in, but as you can see, this kind of dancing is much different than the choregraphy that we have discussed so far in class. Unlike Nijinsky's The Rite of Spring, the dancing and movement in this performance is much more smooth and flowing like the music. Katherine's dancing had a happier tone to it and was just altogether easier on the eyes in my opinion.

One of her most famous performances is Tropical Revue in which she really incorporates what she has learned from studying African religious dances into her routine. Even the costumes, designed by Katherine's husband John Pratt, truly represent the essence of African dance.

Throughout her career, she choreographed more than 90 individual dances and she maintained her dance company for over 30 years, which was the only African-American lead group during that time.