Item #6020 Katherine Dunham in Tropical Revue. Cecilia Schultz.
Katherine Dunham in Tropical Revue.
Katherine Dunham in Tropical Revue.

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Schultz, Cecilia.

Katherine Dunham in Tropical Revue.

Seattle, Washington: Cecilia Schultz, 1943. 12mo (8.5” x 5.5”). 8 pp., including printed self-wrappers. Illus.

A scarce playbill for a 1943 peformance of Dunham’s Tropical Revue in Seattle.

African-American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist and activist Katherine Dunham (1909–2006) enjoyed one of the most successful dance careers of the twentieth century. Tropical Revue debuted at the Martin Beck Theater, New York in 1943, presented by impresario Sol Hurok and starring Dunham herself, who is featured on the front-cover wearing fishnet leggings, and dancing to disembodied hands playing a congo drum.

Described as including “new numbers,” this performance of Tropical Revue was held at Seattle’s Moor Theatre (from 3 April to 5 May 1943) and consisted of the following dances: Rara Tonga, Cuban Slave Lament, Choro, Rites De Passage, Bahiana, Tropics, L’ag’ya, Strutters’ Ball, Cakewalk, Barrel House, Flaming Youth Para Que Tu Veas, and Promenda—Havana. The program was subject to change “without notice.” Some of these numbers are described here in detail. The members and staff of the Dunham Company are listed, as is Hurok’s staff.

Considered the “matriarch and queen mother of black dance,” Dunham won acclaim for her innovative interpretations of ritualistic and ethnic dances which she based on her research of black culture. At the apogee of her career during the 1940s and ‘50s, she achieved great success throughout Europe, Latin America and the U.S. with her own all-black Katherine Dunham Dance Co., which she directed for nearly three decades. The company constituted the sole self-supported black American dance troupe of its day. Over her long career, Dunham choreographed over ninety individual dances; made important contributions to the field of dance anthropology, and innovated African-American modern dance. She also choreographed and starred in dance sequences in various movies and was the recipient of numerous awards. Many of her students trained at her Chicago and New York studios went on to become notable figures in the field of modern dance.

No copies recorded in OCLC.

REFERENCES: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Katherine Dunham at britannica.com; Katherine Dunham Professional Career Timeline at kdcah.org

CONDITION: Good, light wear.

Item #6020

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