Memorial events June 22 in ESL and at History Museum
As one of a triad of cities “Empress” Katherine Dunham called her “spiritual homes,” East St. Louis will pay homage to the late dancer-choreographer’s multifaceted legacy by hosting “Katherine Dunham (1909-2006): A Familial Memorial Celebration” from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 22, in the gymnasium of Lincoln Middle School, 12 South Tenth Street at Broadway Avenue.
The free event will honor the Empress’ enormous contributions to dance, cultural arts, education, scholarship, activism, pan-Africanism, literature and humanitarian causes, including her 1992 47-day fast “of conscience and compassion” on behalf of Haitian refugees.
Miss Dunham’s rich and enduring connection to East St. Louis also will be highlighted. Among her many contributions to the city was establishment of the Performing Arts Training Center in 1967 while serving as artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
The June 22 event will include an invocation by a 97-member drum ensemble and dance by certified teachers of Dunham Technique. Readings of proclamations and telegrams from global dignitaries and organizations, testimonials from Dunham protégés and devotees, poetic recitations and film clips of her life, photo exhibits, and musical selections will also be part of the East St. Louis program.
Mayor Carl Officer and Illinois Rep. Wyvetter Younge are among scheduled speakers.
Between the 1930s and the 1960s, while she perfected her world-renowned Dunham Technique, her famed Katherine Dunham Dance Company performed and consulted in more than 60 countries, including her other “spiritual homes”: Dakar, Senegal and Port au Prince, Haiti.
A University of Chicago-trained anthropologist who grew up in Glen Ellyn and Joliet, Illinois, Miss Dunham wrote scholarly and creative works (from Dances of Haiti to Kasamance), appeared in nine films (including Stormy Weather and Casbah), and was once described as having one of three “best sets of legs” in the world. (They were insured for $250,000, an enormous sum at the time.)
The Board of Directors of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities is overseeing the memorial. Dr. Lena Weathers, president of the KDCAH board, said she is “excited about the way things are falling into place for this international memorial.” Eugene B. Redmond, poet laureate of East St. Louis, professor of English at SIUE, and a member of the KDCAH board, is chairing the memorial committee.
Dr. Weathers attended a “Celebration of the Life of Katherine Dunham” in Atlanta on May 28. She accepted a proclamation from the Fulton County Board of Commissioners celebrating Miss Dunham’s life and achievements and other acknowledgements that will be shared with the June 22 audience.
Miss Dunham’s last public appearance in Metro East was in October when she gave the closing address of the weeklong “Drumvoices Festival of Black Arts,” held at SIUE and selected Metro East St. Louis sites.
Persons desiring to help with expenses for the June 22 memorial may send checks or money orders to Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities (KDCAH), 532 North Tenth Street at Katherine Dunham Place, East St. Louis, Illinois 62201. Those wanting to make repetitive long-term contributions in support of the Katherine Dunham Legacy (Museum, Children’s Workshop, upkeep of properties) should send tax-deductible donations online to www.dunhamfund.com.
A 7 p.m. post-memorial program will be held in the Lee Auditorium of the Missouri History Museum, at Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park. It is also free to the public and will include performances, exhibits and testimonials. For information on the History Museum’s event, call (314) 361-8017.
For the ESL event, Lincoln School is several blocks from 532 North Tenth Street, now Katherine Dunham Place, a home Miss Dunham maintained from 1967 until her death on May 21 in New York City. Her namesakes museum and children’s workshop are two blocks north of the residence at KDP and Pennsylvania Avenue.
For more information about the East St. Louis memorial, contact Eugene B. Redmond at (618) 650-3991 or eredmon@siue.edu.
