Katherine Dunham was born in Chicago on June 22 1910. Dunham received her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in anthropology from the University of Chicago and later did extensive anthropological study, particularly in theCaribbean. She began performing in 1931 in Chicago and then worked for the New York Labor Stage, where she composed dances for The Emperor Jones, Pins and Needles, and Run, Li'l Chillun. In 1936 Dunham received a Julius Rosenwald Foundation fellowship, with which she traveled and studied dance in the West Indies, particularly Haiti. In 1940 she formed a highly acclaimed all-Black dance troupe that toured herworks in the United States and in Europe. She also choreographed for, and performed in, motion pictures and Broadway musicals. Dunham opened theDunham School of Dance in New York City, which trained dancers in classical ballet, African and Caribbean dance forms, anthropology, and other cultural arts. The school was an influential center of Black dance. She became the first Blackchoreographer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She acted as technical cultural advisor to the president and the minister of cultural affairs of Senegal. In the 1970s Dunham went to Southern Illinois University as anartist in residence and later became a professor. There she developed cultural artsprograms to teach disadvantaged urban youth. A scholar and influential leader inBlack theatrical dance, her original technique emphasized the movement of certainbody parts independently of the rest of the body. Dunham also wrote articles forperiodicals and authored several books.

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