Katherine Dunham: Activist, Anthropologist, Dancer

The musical opened to previews on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre with a limited engagement from March 15th , 2012 to march 28 2012. They performed “King of New York “ in the thanksgiving parade for that year. The show has earned Eight Tony awards, and won 3 which were , Best Musical , Best Choreography and Best original

Influenced primarily by cultural roots and incredibly opportunity, Dunham had the luxury of studying in the West Indies as well as anthropological study of other cultural style dances. The West Indian experience changed forever the focus of Dunham’s life and caused a profound shift in her career. This initial fieldwork began a lifelong involvement with the people and dance of Haiti. And, importantly for the development of modern dance, her fieldwork began her investigations into a vocabulary of movement that would form the core of the Katherine Dunham Technique. Though many of Dunham’s primary influences lies within her multicultural experiences, Mark Turbyfill also seemed to play a large role in her future dance career, giving her private lessons despite his doubt in the opening of her student company (Kaiso! 187). Katherine Dunham has been list as an influence to “everyone from George Balanchine to Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse and Twyla Tharp. American dance, including ballet, modern dance, Hollywood and Broadway, would not be the same without her” (Aschenbrenner 226).

Mia Michaels was born is Coconut Grove, Florida. As the youngest of Joe Michaels' children Michaels' grew up surrounded by dance, she was taught Jazz, Tap and Ballet by her father and her sister taught her contemporary. After she had learned all she could from her family Michaels went on to train in contemporary with Miami Conservatory, Miami Performing Arts Centre, Michigan Interlochen Arts Academy and with the New World School of the arts.

Debbie Allen was born to Vivian Ayers and Arthur Allen on January 16, 1950. At age three she started dancing and at age four she knew she wanted to be a professional dancer. Her parents divorced in 1957, and her mother was Debbie and her siblings were encouraged to be creative and independent. In 1960, Vivian Ayers took her children to Mexico. When they came back to Texas, Debbie auditioned for the Houston Ballet School but was denied because the color of her skin. A Russian teacher at the school saw Debbie perform and secretly enrolled her. When she was sixteen, she auditioned for the North Carolina School of the Arts but was rejected because her body was “unsuited” for ballet. While she was in high school she put her studies first and went

At the start of the 20th century, the popular vaudeville shows that crossed the nation became

In the late 1930s, Katherine Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in American and European theater of the 20th century and has been called the "Matriarch and Queen Mother of Black Dance", production. One of her early appearances was in Cabin in the Sky, staged by George Balanchine that ran for 20 weeks in New York, with Dunham in the stunning role of “Georgia Brown”. Another famous role as a seductress during this period was the “Woman with a Cigar” from her solo role in the revue Shore Excursion. Her sense of rhythm, theater and costuming, as well as her choreography and dancing, put serious African American vernacular dance on the map once and for all.

Katherine Dunham wrote multiple books explaining her journey to succeeding in her dance legacy. Many of these books such as her top sellers “Island Possessed” and “Touch of Innocence” could still be found in many local libraries and bookstores today. Katherine Dunham has her own dance studio still standing at the Katherine Dunham museum. The museum is located in East St. Louis, IL and is across the street from Katherine’s old home.When tourists arrive to the museum they can observe the way Katherine lived in her home as well. This museum includes many tourist guides that will allow visitors to tour the house for 30-45 minutes and are able to explain Katherine Dunham’s past and significance to the dance world. There are sponsors for Katherine’s

Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois (“Katherine Dunham Biography” 1). After her mother’s unexpected death four years after her birth, Dunham would be sent to live with her aunt who would give Dunham her first exposure to music and dance (“Katherine Dunham” Contemporary Black 2). Although she had loved

Kathrine Dunham did her best to create a learning experience for colored people but often the would leave because the believed they didn’t need the training. However Dunham believed that performing and art did not always come naturally to black people and they needed discipline and trying just like everyone else. Foulkes also writes about how African Americans had to implement their own institutions where they could school themselves. These dance schools would begin to bud all around and would offer african american girls the opportunity to start learning

Company started as a collection of one acts by George Furth. After asking Sondheim to look them over and Sondheim took them Harold Prince who thought they would make a great musical. The show was to be an examination of New York marriages. Company opened in April of 1970 and ran for over 700 performances and won 7 Tony Awards including Best Musical. While this was not Broadway’s first concept musical it was one of the first successful. It was also one of the first to deal with adult themes and relationships. At that time people usually went to the theatre to escape and Company was holding up a magnifying glass to everyday couples and their marriages. The climatic ending comes when Bobby’s heart has finally thawed and he stands on the precipice of his future ready to find his mate.

When the show was announced to move to Broadway, the yellowface was strongly protested by the Asian-American community. The show’s critic initiated the protest, saying that the production had created “an unwelcome view of Asians.” However, Pryce was so greatly praised by the West End audience, who seemed not to be bothered at all about his yellowface, that the producer was not willing to give in, claiming Pryce is the star of the show, as one of the British stage’s most admired actors. The yellowface performance was not even considered to be abandoned until the Actors’ Equity refused to approve Pryce’s Visa “as they cannot condone the casting of a Caucasian actor in the role of [an] Eurasian” that was going to destroy the fabric of the country. This angered the producer who even threatened with a cancelation on the Broadway production. It took a turn when Equity backed down and rescinded its decision and Pryce brought his “The American Dream” to New York and won a Tony Award for his brilliant performance — the yellowface was later removed. The audience was mesmerized by the glorious music and stagecraft as nobody had seen a helicopter landing on Broadway. The audience also discovered that, Jonathan Pryce was not the only one dictating the spotlight: Lea Salonga, who came form Philippine, was the rising star. Salonga, with her magnificent

Isadora persisted through criticism and critique. Isadora Duncan created modern dance, used persistence to innovate ways to overcome obstacles, and illuminated the world by showing it a new style of dance. Isadora Duncan was also known as one of the mothers of modern dance. Duncan was raised in a family where the arts were very embraced. Duncan started doing gymnastics, because she loved the freeness of her body.

Stella grew up along her parents and played the roles of both boys and girls. When studying her acting she didn’t have much time for school but she did attend a public school in New York. Her first debut was in London, England when she was 18 as Naiome in Elisa Ben Avia with her father’s company. She made her first debut in the English-language was on Broadway in 1922 as the butterfly in The World We Live In. In 1940’s she started teaching acting at the New School for Social Research in New City. She kept teaching at that studio until 1949 and decided to start her own studio known as the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting (before that it was the Stella Adler Theatre Studio). While teaching at her own school, she also taught at Yale University’s School of Drama for a year and a half. Adler mentored many accomplished personalities such as Marlon Brando, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Dolores del Rìo, Robert De Niro, Elaine Stritch, Martin Sheen, Manu Tupou, Harvey Keitel, Melaine Griffith, Peter Bogdanovich, and Warren Beatty by teaching them the many principles of contemperary theatre like characterization and script. As her career and she started getting older she stopped performing in 1961. Also with her acting she also was an associate producer for MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio. She also directed commercial theatre and she also wrote The Technique of

When you hear people saying, Great Britain is the home of theatre of dreams well they aren't bluffing. I Mary Collin was born on 15th, April,1946 in London England. My mother was a single given that, my father had passed away towards the end of world war two. Her dream was apparent as the summer rain, to see her little, gorgeous daughter do what she could never achieve. She wanted me to perform just one play in a theater, it didn't matter to her, how short it would be provided I get there. At the tender age of seven, she began to teach me basics of the theater world. I have to admit this was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life, at my unwilling points she would soothe me by saying, “pain today, champion tomorrow”. She was supportive and made me realize that this, too was my aspiration.

Martha Graham was born on May 11, 1894 in Pennsylvania. As a child, she was regulated by her father George Graham, a psychiatrist who used physical movement to treat mental sickness; he assumed that the body could demonstrate its precognition, which captivated his daughter. The Graham family moved to California in the 1910’s, and when Martha was in her late teens, she saw Ruth St. Denis perform at the Mason Opera House in Los Angeles. Later once the show ended, she pleaded with her parents to let her to study dance, and however they rejected her request as they were powerful Presbyterians. After Martha’s father died enrolled into Denishawn School in Los Angeles which was an arts-orientated junior college, Graham spent more than 8 years there being a student as well as an instructor. She was then willing to progress and began her chance to start dancing in the vaudeville revue Greenwich Village Follies. At the Greenwich Village Follies, she had the chance to plan and teach her own dances pieces. Graham made her own dance company official in New York City, 1926 which her most predominant dancers included Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp, she developed an unprecedented technique that spoke to more taboo forms of movement and passionate style. Graham choreographed over 200 pieces for her company and was the first dancer to perform in the White House in Washington DC for Franklin Roosevelt. Graham still performed up until the