Katherine Dunham's Influence

Meaning Behind Every Movement

Katherine Dunham’s work was built on her deep research into folk dances from West Africa and the West Indies. In those traditions, the movements served a cultural purpose where every action had a specific meaning. 

“The reason the movement is done is because it serves a purpose and it functions in that society,” Daiter said. “It's like when you look at African movement. I started with African dance in Chicago, and a lot of the down-to-the-ground actions are like you're picking and pulling things up.” 

Alvin Ailey, when drawing on his own experiences from the South and the dance and music traditions that had been passed down through generations of Black Americans, similarly understood that certain movements and actions had a larger meaning, and understanding that history was an important part of performing dance. 

“The movement must come from a place,” Daiter said. “It just can't come from throwing your hand up in the air. It must come from another part of your body and then go into the extension of your arm and your fingers and your hand, because you want to take the audience to another place.” 

Born from Civil Rights

Ms. Dunham was one of her era’s most outspoken defenders of civil rights. She spoke to white audiences about dismantling segregation. When faced with discrimination herself, she took the offenders to court. And won.  

Placing her work in front of audiences who had never seen Black artistry before was part of her activism. Even without overt political subject matter, her company of Black dancers performed a political role in advancing the visibility and autonomy of Black artists. 

Alvin Ailey’s company was born at the height of the civil rights movement. From the very beginning he made it a central tenet of his company to uplift Black performers and African American cultural history. “It was my idea in the beginning to make a company that said something about the Black experience,” Mr. Ailey said.  

Like Ms. Dunham, Mr. Ailey’s works often reflected his deep passion for civil rights. In his ballet, Masekela Langage from 1969, he drew parallels between the era of South African apartheid and the race-induced violence of 1960s Chicago. 

Isolation Jazz Influences

Alvin Ailey was heavily influenced by jazz dances, especially the sensual isolations in the ribs and pelvis. Many people attribute such an influence to the jazz choreographers of the time; artists such as Bob Fosse, who made extensive use of isolations in his work. However, isolations were a fundamental element of Ms. Dunham’s choreography, with roots in the African and West Indies dances that inspired her. 

“Ms. Dunham started with isolations,” Daiter said. “Martha Graham said that Ms. Dunham was the queen of hip movement. They all were creating contractions, but she said Ms. Dunham was the queen of the hip isolation. There are hip isolations that initiate movement in much of Mr. Ailey's choreography.” 

 In certain works, like Night Creature, the hip isolations have a direct connection to the jazz influences in Duke Ellington’s score, evoking 1920s jazz nightclubs and the Broadway stage. However, in Revelations, the hip isolations in the “Wade in the Water” processional show the connection to a deeper ancestry that mirror the traditional African dances Ms. Dunham helped bring to American audiences.  

Propelled by Urgency

Part of Dunham technique is the Dunham Progressions, a series of escalating traveling sequences that build in intensity and size, creating a surging energy across the studio. The movement has a sense of urgency across space, a joyous expansiveness.  

Mr. Ailey’s choreography can be similarly charged and urgent, with the dancers allowing themselves to be carried by rhythm. Think of the fast-paced stage crossings in the “Sinner Man” trio from Revelations. Like Ms. Dunham, Mr. Ailey used his movement to take up generous amounts of space, with his dancers using a grounded connection to the floor to help propel them dramatically across the stage. 

Being in the Moment

Both Ms. Dunham and Mr. Ailey were interested in acting. They took acting classes as well as movement classes when they moved to New York. The element of acting that interested them was the attention to the present moment; the need to open oneself, physically and emotionally, to the moment to prepare to respond to whatever happened within a scene. Both artists wanted to capture that liveness in their dances. 

“You have to be in the moment,” Daiter said of performing Ms. Dunham’s choreography. “Just like an actor, you're living the moment. You can't move to the next thing until you've finished what was before.”