Katherine Dunham Digital Collection
The Music Division of the Library of Congress is pleased to announce the release of a new Web collection focusing on the career of dancer-choreographer Katherine Dunham on the "I Hear America Singing" Web site http://www.loc.gov/ihas/.
The online Katherine Dunham Collection presentation (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/dunham) makes available a selection of photographs from the Library of Congress, The Missouri Historical Society, and Southern Illinois University; film and videotape excerpts from Dunham's research and performing career; and selections from the Library's Dunham Legacy Project that document the Dunham dance technique. In addition, a complete inventory of the Collection is included.
The Katherine Dunham Collection was created with the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which enabled the Library to acquire significant portions of Dunham's archives, originally housed at the Dunham Centers in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Born in 1909 in Chicago, Katherine Dunham is an American dancer-choreographer who is best known for incorporating African American, Caribbean, African, and South American movement styles and themes into her ballets. As a young dancer and student at the University of Chicago, she chose anthropology as her course of study. The union of dance and anthropology would have a profound impact on her choreographic style throughout her career.
In addition to a career that has included Broadway performances, feature films, choreography, and national and international tours, Dunham was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, and in 2000 she was named one of "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: the first 100" by the Dance Heritage Coalition. She has continued to teach the Dunham technique to young dancers at the Dunham Centers in East Saint Louis, where she brings an awareness of Caribbean and African art to area residents.
With the acquisition of the Katherine Dunham collection, the Library of Congress has become a premiere source of information on Dunham's legacy--a legacy that encompasses choreographic works, technique and teaching, performance and production, anthropological analysis of the dance and ritual of the African diaspora, global activism and leadership in human rights, and advocacy in the local African American community.
"I Hear America Singing" is a new Library of Congress Web site available at http://www.loc.gov/ihas/, which invites visitors to experience the diversity of American performing arts through the Library's unsurpassed collections of scores, sheet music, audio recordings, films, photographs, maps, and other materials. Special
presentations on selected topics highlight some of the unique and unusual materials in the Library's collections, including jazz legend Gerry Mulligan's collection, Civil War sheet music, and patriotic melodies. This site is a continually-growing resource, and visitors are encouraged to return regularly to see what's new.
Please direct all inquiries to Music Division staff by using the division's "Ask A Librarian" Web form, available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-perform2.html.
The online Katherine Dunham Collection presentation (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/dunham) makes available a selection of photographs from the Library of Congress, The Missouri Historical Society, and Southern Illinois University; film and videotape excerpts from Dunham's research and performing career; and selections from the Library's Dunham Legacy Project that document the Dunham dance technique. In addition, a complete inventory of the Collection is included.
The Katherine Dunham Collection was created with the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which enabled the Library to acquire significant portions of Dunham's archives, originally housed at the Dunham Centers in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Born in 1909 in Chicago, Katherine Dunham is an American dancer-choreographer who is best known for incorporating African American, Caribbean, African, and South American movement styles and themes into her ballets. As a young dancer and student at the University of Chicago, she chose anthropology as her course of study. The union of dance and anthropology would have a profound impact on her choreographic style throughout her career.
In addition to a career that has included Broadway performances, feature films, choreography, and national and international tours, Dunham was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, and in 2000 she was named one of "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: the first 100" by the Dance Heritage Coalition. She has continued to teach the Dunham technique to young dancers at the Dunham Centers in East Saint Louis, where she brings an awareness of Caribbean and African art to area residents.
With the acquisition of the Katherine Dunham collection, the Library of Congress has become a premiere source of information on Dunham's legacy--a legacy that encompasses choreographic works, technique and teaching, performance and production, anthropological analysis of the dance and ritual of the African diaspora, global activism and leadership in human rights, and advocacy in the local African American community.
"I Hear America Singing" is a new Library of Congress Web site available at http://www.loc.gov/ihas/, which invites visitors to experience the diversity of American performing arts through the Library's unsurpassed collections of scores, sheet music, audio recordings, films, photographs, maps, and other materials. Special
presentations on selected topics highlight some of the unique and unusual materials in the Library's collections, including jazz legend Gerry Mulligan's collection, Civil War sheet music, and patriotic melodies. This site is a continually-growing resource, and visitors are encouraged to return regularly to see what's new.
Please direct all inquiries to Music Division staff by using the division's "Ask A Librarian" Web form, available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-perform2.html.
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