“The Dunham exhibit celebrates the contributions that Dunham made during her East St. Louis years – from 1967 to her passing in 2006,” said Cory Willmott, PhD, professor in the Department of Anthropology. Willmott curated “Katherine Dunham: A Life of Dance, Activism and Anthropology” along with integrative studies graduate student Konjit Avent. The exhibit honoring Dunham’s legacy in the region will be displayed at the SIUE East St. Louis Center (ESLC) through Monday, May 21.
“Our first thought in doing the show was to rekindle awareness of Dunham’s extraordinary life and career at the Edwardsville campus, where few people today even know that Dunham Hall was named for her,” Willmott said of the exhibit that opened on April 27. “When (ESLC Executive Director) Jesse Dixon asked if we would bring the show to the Center, we were thrilled with the opportunity to bring Miss Dunham back home to the community where she chose to complete her life’s work.”
The renowned dancer, anthropologist, and social activist founded the Performing Arts Training Center (PATC) at the ESLC in 1967 and adopted the City of East St. Louis as her second home around the same time.
“Although Miss Dunham prematurely left academia to pursue a dance career, she never gave up scholarship and teaching,” Willmott said. “The Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis (which became the SIUE East St. Louis Center for Performing Arts Program) was the fruition of Dunham’s scholarship and the crowning of her life’s work.”
Through the extensive programming ESLC provides (including piano, guitar, drums and bass guitar, West African drumming and various styles of dance), the center has been an integral part of the East St. Louis for decades. The center is also a bridge between the East St. Louis and the SIUE community. Dunham’s legacy both at the university and within the East St. Louis region operate in tandem because of ESLC.
“Many people in East St. Louis were students of Miss Dunham and have personal connections and memories of her. It was a unique concept that has not been matched since,” said Willmott. “Out of it sprang many individual success stories of local community members, and a path forward for those to come.”
Heather Himes is one those student success stories. She was a child when she began learning the famed Dunham technique, where she trained under master Dunham instructor Ruby Streate and certified Dunham Technique instructor Theo Jamison – who is an SIUE alum and former East St. Louis Performing Arts program director.
Himes now herself a certified Dunham Technique instructor. At the exhibit’s opening ceremony last month, Himes – who will receive her MFA in Dance from Washington University on Friday – performed a contemporary piece that both honored and pulled from the Dunham Technique while it simultaneously illustrated the black experience in America.
“There is a new generation of dancers choreographing original works that incorporate Dunham Technique,” said Himes. “But these youth have also moved beyond it, to engage today’s movements, themes and social issues.”
“Katherine Dunham: A Life of Dance, Activism and Anthropology” will be on display through Monday, May 21 at SIUE East St. Louis Center (ESLC), 601 James R. Thompson Blvd., Brady Ave, East St Louis, IL 62201. For more information, call (618) 482-6912 or visit https://www.siue.edu/eslc/.
