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Katherine Dunham Collection

Katherine Dunham, Casbah

Katherine Dunham in the 1948 Universal International Pictures Co., Inc. film, "Casbah".   About this image

|| About the Collection ||

The Collection consists of moving image materials that document the extraordinary journey of a woman who changed the face of American modern dance. The Collection highlights Dunham’s early explorations as an anthropologist in the 1930s as she observed a multitude of movement types and dance forms. However, it is Dunham's focus on the movements and dances of the African diaspora that so influenced her development as a performer, choreographer, and teacher. The collection contains examples of field research from Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique, and Jamaica, filmed by Miss Dunham and others. Also contained in the Collection are films documenting Miss Dunham's remarkable career as a performer and choreographer for her company, which introduced African and Caribbean dance movement to the American public, and videotapes of her workshops that demonstrate her remarkable teaching abilities.

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  • View the collection finding aid

|| Collection Details ||

General

Span Dates
1925-2004
Bulk Dates
1936-1970
Major Language(s)
English
Repository
Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress

Physical Collection

Number of Items
1700
Number of Containers
1700
Contents
The Collection comprises items in a variety of video/motion picture formats. It documents many aspects of Dunham’s dance career: her work as a choreographer, her dance technique and teaching method, various of her performances and productions, and her ethnographic films of the dance and ritual of the African diaspora. The Collection also testifies to her global activism and leadership in the field of human rights and her advocacy of African American causes in her community.
Processing History
Film and video materials were accessioned and bar coded in the Music Division, entered into an Access database and then transferred to MBRS.
Transfers
Most of the collection transferred to MBRS.
Provenance
The Katherine Dunham Collection consists of materials purchased from the archives of the Dunham Centers in East St. Louis, Illinois, and is made possible through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Access/Copyright

Copyright Info
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html
Preferred Citation
Katherine Dunham Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress

Subject(s)

  • African Americans in the Performing Arts
  • American Musical Theater
  • Dance
  • Dance: Modern Dance
  • Women in the Performing Arts

Names Associated with Collection

  • Dunham, Katherine
  • Pratt, John

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