Katherine Dunham

Dance and the African Diaspora

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Dance, Modern, Biography & Memoir, Entertainment & Performing Arts
Cover of the book Katherine Dunham by Joanna Dee Das, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joanna Dee Das ISBN: 9780190264895
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: May 23, 2017
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Joanna Dee Das
ISBN: 9780190264895
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: May 23, 2017
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

One of the most important dance artists of the twentieth century, dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) created works that thrilled audiences the world over. As an African American woman, she broke barriers of race and gender, most notably as the founder of an important dance company that toured the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for several decades. Through both her company and her schools, she influenced generations of performers for years to come, from Alvin Ailey to Marlon Brando to Eartha Kitt. Dunham was also one of the first choreographers to conduct anthropological research about dance and translate her findings for the theatrical stage. Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora makes the argument that Dunham was more than a dancer-she was an intellectual and activist committed to using dance to fight for racial justice. Dunham saw dance as a tool of liberation, as a way for people of African descent to reclaim their history and forge a new future. She put her theories into motion not only through performance, but also through education, scholarship, travel, and choices about her own life. Author Joanna Dee Das examines how Dunham struggled to balance artistic dreams, personal desires, economic needs, and political commitments in the face of racism and sexism. The book analyzes Dunham's multiple spheres of engagement, assessing her dance performances as a form of black feminist protest while also presenting new material about her schools in New York and East St. Louis, her work in Haiti, and her network of interlocutors that included figures as diverse as ballet choreographer George Balanchine and Senegalese president Léopold Sédar Senghor. It traces Dunham's influence over the course of several decades from the New Negro Movement of the 1920s to the Black Power Movement of the late 1960s and beyond. By drawing on a vast, never-utilized trove of archival materials along with oral histories, choreographic analysis, and embodied research, Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora offers new insight about how this remarkable woman built political solidarity through the arts.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

One of the most important dance artists of the twentieth century, dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) created works that thrilled audiences the world over. As an African American woman, she broke barriers of race and gender, most notably as the founder of an important dance company that toured the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for several decades. Through both her company and her schools, she influenced generations of performers for years to come, from Alvin Ailey to Marlon Brando to Eartha Kitt. Dunham was also one of the first choreographers to conduct anthropological research about dance and translate her findings for the theatrical stage. Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora makes the argument that Dunham was more than a dancer-she was an intellectual and activist committed to using dance to fight for racial justice. Dunham saw dance as a tool of liberation, as a way for people of African descent to reclaim their history and forge a new future. She put her theories into motion not only through performance, but also through education, scholarship, travel, and choices about her own life. Author Joanna Dee Das examines how Dunham struggled to balance artistic dreams, personal desires, economic needs, and political commitments in the face of racism and sexism. The book analyzes Dunham's multiple spheres of engagement, assessing her dance performances as a form of black feminist protest while also presenting new material about her schools in New York and East St. Louis, her work in Haiti, and her network of interlocutors that included figures as diverse as ballet choreographer George Balanchine and Senegalese president Léopold Sédar Senghor. It traces Dunham's influence over the course of several decades from the New Negro Movement of the 1920s to the Black Power Movement of the late 1960s and beyond. By drawing on a vast, never-utilized trove of archival materials along with oral histories, choreographic analysis, and embodied research, Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora offers new insight about how this remarkable woman built political solidarity through the arts.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Charles Hodge by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Early Modern Spain: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Wounded City by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Continents and Supercontinents by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Moral Understandings by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book If the Walls Could Speak by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Palliative Care Perspectives by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book The Vulnerability of Integrity in Early Confucian Thought by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Fundamentals of HIV Medicine 2019 by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Encore Adulthood by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Weather, Macroweather, and the Climate by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book The New Parkinson's Disease Treatment Book by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Leo X: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Joanna Dee Das
Cover of the book Protestants and Pictures by Joanna Dee Das
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy