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.
|| 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
