"Kaiso! will stand alone as a document of Dunham's achievements over many years." (Thomas F. DeFrantz, editor of Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African American Dance)
"Kaiso," a term of praise that is the calypso equivalent of "bravo," is a fitting title for this definitive and celebratory collection of writings by and about Katherine Dunham, the legendary African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Originally produced in the 1970s, this revised and much expanded edition includes recent scholarly articles, Dunham's essays on dance and anthropology, press reviews, interviews, and chapters from Dunham's unpublished memoir, "Minefields." With nearly a hundred selections by dozens of authors, Kaiso! provides invaluable insight into the life and work of this pioneering anthropologist and performer and is certain to become an essential resource for scholars and general readers interested in social anthropology, dance history, or American studies, or Katherine Dunham herself.
"The revision of Kaiso!, a unique compendium devoted to the work of Katherine Dunham, fills a significant lacuna in dance scholarship by providing a multifaceted portrait of a major figure in American and world dance." (Richard A. Long, author of 'The Black Tradition in American Dance')
"Katherine Dunham is a goddess. VéVé Clark and Sara Johnson, in this marvelous book, brilliantly capture and portray her grandeur." (Robert Farris Thompson, The Colonel John Trumbull Professor of the History of Art at Yale)
VéVe A. Clark is associate professor of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Sara E. Johnson is assistant professor of comparative litera- ture at the University of California, San Diego.
Author(s): Sarah East Johnson, Vèvè A. Clark
Series: Studies in dance history
Edition: 2
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Year: 2005
Language: English
Commentary: graphic enhancements & further size optimization
Pages: 722
City: Madison, Wis.
Tags: black dance;afrocaribbean dance;afroamerican dance;music history
Kaiso!
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on Orthography
Chronology
Introduction: Diamonds on the Toes of her Feet (SARA E. JOHNSON)
PART 1 Autobiographical Reflections
The Rabbit Hunt: Excerpt from A Touch of Innocence (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Closed Room: Excerpt from A Touch of Innocence (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Excerpt from Journey to Accompong (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Excerpt from Island Possessed (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Prologue: Excerpt from “Minefields” (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Survival: Chicago after the Caribbean: Excerpt from “Minefields” (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Early New York Collaborations: Excerpt from “Minefields” (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
PART 2 Dunham the Woman: SCHOLAR, ARTIST, ACTIVIST
The Lost Ten Years: The Untold Story of the Dunham-Turbyfill Alliance (ANN BARZEL, MARK TURBYFILL, RUTH PAGE)
Dunham's Contribution (ANN BARZEL)
Excerpts from the Diary (MARK TURBYFILL)
In Appreciation (RUTH PAGE)
Miss Dunham Is Sensation in Haitian Dances (EDWARD BARRY)
The Negro in the Dance, as Katherine Dunham Sees Him 191 (FREDERICK L. ORME)
La Boule Blanche (KATHERINE DUNHAM, writing as KAYE DUNN)
L’ag’ya of Martinique (KATHERINE DUNHAM, writing as KAYE DUNN)
Designing Dunham: John Pratt’s Method in Costume and Décor: An Interview with John Pratt (VEVE A. CLARK)
Katherine Dunham’s Notable Contribution (JOHN MARTIN)
Thesis Turned Broadway (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Negro Dance (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
An Amazing Aura: Interview with Katherine Dunham (VEVE A. CLARK)
Modern Dance Owes a Lot to Lovely Katherine Dunham (SUE BARRY)
Collaborating with Balanchine on Cabin in the Sky: Interviews with Katherine Dunham (CONSTANCE VALIS HILL)
A Talk with Katherine Dunham (DORATHI BOCK PIERRE)
Better Race Relationships Hoped by Seattle Dancer
Dunham Weary of Hotel Trek
Comment to a Louisville Audience (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Watching Dunham’s Dances, 1937-1945 (SUSAN MANNING)
Goombay (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Thirty Days among Maroons (ZORA NEALE HURSTON)
On Stage with the Dunham Company: An Interview with Vanoye Aikens (VEVE A. CLARK)
The Dance in the National Youth Administration (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Bal Negre Program
Schoolmarm Turned Siren or Vice Versa (JOHN MARTIN)
Caribbean Backgrounds Program
Katherine Dunham Raises Primitive Dance Art to New Heights of Sophistication (PETER WADDINGTON)
Katherine Dunham, Observed in London
Touring Europe with the Dunham Company (EARTHA KITT)
Katherine Dunham and Us (ABDIAS DO NASCIMENTO)
Performing the Memory of Difference in Afro-Caribbean Dance: Katherine Dunham's Choreography, 1938-1987 (VEVE A. CLARK)
Southland Program: A Dramatic Ballet in Two Scenes (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Katherine Dunham’s Southland: Protest in the Face of Repression (CONSTANCE VALIS HILL)
An Anthropological Band of Beings: An Interview with Julie Robinson Belafonte (VEVE A. CLARK)
Foreword to Katherine Dunham’s Dances of Haiti (CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS)
Katherine Dunham: An Appreciation (ALFRED METRAUX)
Notes on Dances for Aida (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Caribbean Islands Now and Then (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Caribbean Tourist Tips (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Getting the Show on the Road: An Excerpt (RUTH BECKFORD)
Plan for an Academy of West African Cultural Arts (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Address Delivered at the Dakar Festival of Negro Arts (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Dunham Jailed Following Protest
Katherine Dunham (GWEN MAZER)
Her Careers Are Manifold (VANDY BREWER)
The Dance with Death (MARTHA SHERRILL)
PART 3 Stories and Poems
Come Back to Arizona (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Afternoon into Night (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Baio (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Béguine (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Babies of Biafra (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Charité: Excerpt from “Elifait” (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Market Place at Pétionville: Excerpt from “Elifait” (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Census Takers: Excerpt from Kasamance (KATHERINE DUNHAM))
PART 4 Dunham Technique
Interview with Katherine Dunham (VEVE A. CLARK)
Katherine Dunham School of Arts and Research: Brochure, 1946-1947
The Dunham Schools (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Dunham Technique Seminars (JOYCE ASCHENBRENNER)
Dunham Technique: Barre Work and Center Progressions (ALBIRDA ROSE)
How She Began Her Beguine: Dunham's Dance Literacy (MILLICENT HODSON)
Form and Function in Primitive Dance (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The Anthropological Approach to the Dance (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Notes on the Dance (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Need for Study of Dances of Primitive Peoples (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Dunham Technique: Prospectus (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
The World in Dance and Ritual: World Dance Film Project (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Focal Rites: New Dance Dominions (ROY THOMAS)
Dance as a Cultural Art and Its Role in Development (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
PART 5 Preserving the Legacy
Performing Arts Training Center as a Focal Point for a New and Unique College or School (KATHERINE DUNHAM)
Cultural Fusion and Spiritual Unity (EUGENE REDMOND)
Institute for Intercultural Communication (JEANELLE STOVALL)
Katherine Dunham Museum (JEANELLE STOVALL)
Honoring Katherine Dunham, 26 May 1976 (ST. CLAIR DRAKE)
Dunham 1O1: An Interview with Glory Van Scott (VEVE A. CLARK)
The Kennedy Center Honors (CARLA HALL and JOE BROWN)
Dance’s Dynamic Duo: Alvin Ailey in Collaboration with Katherine Dunham (ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN)
Ailey Does Dunham (ALAN M. KRIEGSMAN)
The Jamaican Connexion (REX NETTLEFORD)
The Yoruba Orisha Tradition Comes to New York City (MARTA MORENO VEGA)
Katherine Dunham, a Pioneer of Postmodern Anthropology (HALIFU OSUMARE)
Katherine Dunham: One-Woman Revolution (WENDY PERRON)
Instituting Dunham (K. C. PATRICK)
APPENDIXES, GLOSSARY, CONTRIBUTORS
Appendix 1. Stage Choreography by Katherine Dunham, 1937-1972
Appendix 2. Film Choreography by Katherine Dunham, 1939-1964
Appendix 3. Selected Bibliography of Writings by Katherine Dunham
Appendix 4. Selected Bibliography of Writings about Katherine Dunham
Glossary
Notes on Contributors
Index
