WHEREAS, Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, near Chicago; and
WHEREAS, In the late twenties, Ms. Dunham took dance classes and performed in a number of productions at the Cube Theatre in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, During the thirties Dunham continued her study of dance with, Madame Ludmila Speranzeva, whose mentoring led Dunham to dance her first leading part in 1933; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Dunham began to study the anthropological ancestry of dance, and after receiving the prestigious Rosenwald Foundation Fellowship, she took her first visit to the Caribbean in 1935 to study indigenous dance; and
WHEREAS, Returning to the United States in 1936, Dunham brought with her a plethora of ideas for innovative choreography, which she used as dance director for the Negro Federal Theatre Project in 1938, and the New York Labor Stage in 1939; and
WHEREAS, Her production, Le Jazz Hot-From Haiti to Harlem, in 1940, established Dunham as one of the most celebrated dynamic choreographers for African American dancers, and led to the production of Cabin in the Sky, her first Broadway musical; and
WHEREAS, During the 1940's and 50's, Dunham's School of Dance became known as the finest training facility for African American dancers, and Philadelphia’s recognized leader in dance, Joan Myers Brown of Philadanco fame studied under the tutelage of Ms. Dunham; and
WHEREAS, She made her last Broadway appearance in Banboche in 1962, and that same year she choreographed Aida for New York City's Metropolitan Opera Company; and
WHEREAS, In St. Louis Dunham established the Performing Arts Training Center, a school designed to offer city youth constructive alternatives to violence; and
WHEREAS, She has been presented the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1983, and also has been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, The woman known as the “Matriarch of Black Dance” is gracing the City of Philadelphia through the generosity of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation in conjunction with the Hawthorne Cultural Arts Center, Temple University, Philadanco, and Dance Advance; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and commend Katherine Dunham on the occasion of her dance residency in Philadelphia.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Katherine Dunham for her historic achievements in the world of dance.
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