She was best known in her long and productive life for lavishly theatrical African and Caribbean dance, making these exotic forms into prime material for the European-dominated dance and theatrical world in the late 1930s and 1940s. But Katherine Dunham also paved the way for choreographers Donald McKayle, Talley Beatty and Alvin Ailey. This group – of Miss Dunham’s artistic children – was a precursor to what has become a widely accepted and influential part of modern dance.
In addition to her well-deserved renown for contributions to the arts anthropology, Katherine Dunham needs to be revered for her strong and courageous sense of justice. This desire to help lift up her people led her to East St. Louis, where she founded the Performing Arts Training Center (PATC) in 1967 and later the Katherine Dunham Dynamic Museum. Her previous experiences elsewhere convinced her that African arts only become meaningful in an Afrocentric context.
Miss Dunham used her public arts programs in an effort to break the cycle of black ghetto life and reverse the decay in East St. Louis. Despite the real danger, she fearlessly engaged the toughest gang members and militant black activists. The positive impact of her sternness, courage and direct involvement during those turbulent years of a rising Civil Rights Movement is legendary. Everywhere you look around here and all over the world, you see her spiritual children, grandchildren and, by now, great-grandchildren.
The remarkable odyssey of Miss Dunham’s life should continue to serve as an inspiration for everyone interested in justice and fair play for all people. A visionary person of unshakeable will and compelling inner strength, Miss Dunham was determined to make a difference, particularly for the downtrodden. She retained until her death a desire to create and excel as well as forcefully advocate for humane treatment for everyone.
In truth, Miss Dunham (and she was always Miss Dunham, to everyone) was not always the easiest person to deal with. Many of her collaborators did not appreciate her iron perfectionism or the rigorous demands of her dance technique. She was always a force to be reckoned with. She should always remain a hero to African Americans as a vibrant symbol of self-consciousness and courage – a black woman whose faith in her life mission never wavered.
Miss Dunham was the type of person we see too seldom today: a superlative artist and an advocate for justice. We need precisely this kind of African-American culture hero – like Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover – to be uplifted continually in our collective memory. We need to be mindful always of her wise words: “Everyone needs, if not a cultural hero, a culturally-heroic society.”