An exceptional innovator and pioneer, Katherine Dunham revolutionized the dance
             world. Her blend of cultural anthropology with the artistic genre of dance in the early
             1930's, produced groundbreaking forms of movement (known today as the Dunham
             technique), and established black dance as an art form in the United States. Katherine
             Dunham led the way for future black companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance
             Theater and Dance Theater of Harlem. She broke many barriers as a dancer,
             choreographer, actress, writer, and anthropologist.
             Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909, near Chicago, Illinois. Her mother died
             shortly after and her father was a traveling salesman. Dunham stayed with her two
             cousins who were actresses and lived in an apartment that was used for rehearsal space.
             They would take Katherine to shows at local theaters, where she would see black
             vaudeville performers who could sing and dance. This is where Dunhams love for the
             stage began. Her formal training in dance did not begin until her late teens. She began
             taking private lessons in college at the University of Chicago. While at the university she
             began to study and research African culture. Dunham became fascinated with the
             importance and the survival of African culture and ritual in understanding African
             American culture. In 1935, she was awarded a fellowship to do field research in
             anthropology and dance. Combining her two interests, she linked the function and form of
             Caribbean dance and ritual to their African heritage. Her passion led her to the islands of
             Jamaica Trinidad, Cuba, Haiti, and Martinique.
             ...