Katherine dunham dancer biography

(1909-2006)


By Halifu Osumare 


Katherine Dunham was a world famous dancer, choreographer, author, anthropologist, social activist, and humanitarian.

Born in 1909 during the turn of the century Victorian era in the small town of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, she became one of the first dance anthropologists, started the first internationally-touring pre-dominantly black dance company with its own codified dance technique, became one of Hollywood’s first African-American choreographers, and authored many scholarly books and journalistic articles on dance and in the Caribbean.   


Her personal life is a fascinating tale.

She was born to a French Canadian mother, Fanny June Taylor, and Albert Millard Dunham, who could trace his ancestry to Madagascar and West Africa. After her mother's early death, her father took her and her older brother Albert to Joliet, Illinois.

She later followed her brilliant philosophy student brother to the University of C