A Dunham Digital Resource

SIUE digital collections
SIUC Morris Library Special collections. Katherine Dunham sitting in office at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. 1960.

Afro- Diaspora Research, Ritual and Resistance

This resource is to serve as an accessible digital and cultural repository referencing the legacy of Katherine Dunham as an extension of her work in dance anthropology, choreography and as a builder of community.

It is to work partnership with historical data provided by other sources such as The Library of Congress. Presently, there is a need to elevate Dunham’s extensive contributions to arts and culture and particularly her individual contributions to others who are an extension of her legacy.

Dunham pushed forward the texture of Black studies, the state side effect of communal African diaspora concepts while successfully developing a cultural program that produced critical thinkers and creative leaders. This extension of her legacy continues today.

The Dunham pedagogy has continued to be enhanced Dunham’s artistic intent and productions through its intergenerational components. This resource will also seat African Diasporic Traditions, art, and research as an extension of Black studies within realm of digital humanities while working in tandem to provide current data needed for future research and the placement of Dunham’s work in academia. It will also link local and regional Dunham communities, researchers and historians thrusting forth access to their historical contributions to this iteration.

Special Thanks to:

  • Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Library Archives
  • Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Special Collections
  • Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center
  • Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities

East Saint Louis, Illinois Dunham Source Community

  • Ruby Streate Master Dunham Technique, PATC dancer
  • Theodore Jamison Master Dunham Technique, PATC dancer -Memoriam
  • Rachel Tavernier Master Dunham Technique, Chair of Technique for IDTC
  • Keith Tyrone Williams Certified Dunham Technique, PATC dancer, actor
  • Heather Himes Certified Dunham Technique, choreographer, actress
  • Saroya Corbett Certified Dunham Technique, choreographer, scholar
  • Vivian Anderson Watt Certified Dunham Technique, actress
  • Anne Walker Certified Dunham Technique,PATC dancer, choreographer
  • Jamila Ajanuku Certified Dunham Technique, choreographer
  • Jack Williams PATC dancer, choreographer
  • Andrea Smythe PATC dancer, choreographer
  • Sunshine Sylvester Lee Drummer, Cultural Director
  • Arthur Moore Master Drummer – Dunham Rhythm
  • James Belk Master Drummer – Dunham Rhythm
  • Leverne Backstrom KDCAH Board President

Note: all historical materials, resources, audio and visual on the site are to be respected. These sources are contributions to African Diasporic legacies, practices, and narratives. please contact authors, choreographers in references to their works, copyright.

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