Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus

By tabdancer3

  • Katherine Dunham Born

    Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909 in Chicago, to an African American father, Albert Millard Dunham, and a French Canadian mother, Fanny June Dunham.

  • Pearl Primus Born

    Pearl Primus was born on November 29th, 1919 in Trinidad to parents Edward and Emily Primus.

  • Primus's family immigrates to the United States

    Primus's parents emigrated from Trinidad when Pearl was only two.

  • Dunham studies Ballet

    In Chicago, Dunham begins to study ballet with Ludmilla Speranzeva. Speranzeva introduces Dunham to the Spanish dancers La Argentina, Quill Monroe, and Vicente Escudero. Dunham also studies ballet with Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page and, through Vera Mirova, is exposed to East Indian, Javanese, and Balinese dance forms.

  • Dunham finds interest in Anthropology

    Katherine Dunham attends the University of Chicago. She attends a lecture by Robert Redfield, a professor of anthropology who specialized in American Indian and African cultures. She decides to major in anthropology and to focus on dances of the African diaspora.

  • Dunham forms Ballet Nègre

    Katherine Dunham forms a dance company, Ballet Nègre, one of the first Negro ballet companies in America.

  • Dunham opens the Negro Dance Group in Chicago

    In 1933, Dunham opens the Negro Dance Group in Chicago as her first attempt at a dance school for young black dancers where she could teach them about their African heritage.

  • Dunham receives Julius Rosenwald Grant

    Dunham receives a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to study the dances of the West Indies. She travels to conduct research in the Caribbean: Accompong, Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad.

  • Dunham's first trip to Haiti

    Dunham arrives in Haiti, the final stop of her trip. She feels a strong sense of identification with the place and the people. She is fascinated with the religious practice of Vodun, and incorporates movement, imagery, and symbolism from this practice in her modern technique and choreography in the United States.

  • Dunham receives Ph.B.

    In August Dunham receives a Ph.B. degree (bachelor of philosophy degree) from the University of Chicago. Her major field of study is recorded as social anthropology.

  • Primus receives B.A.

    Primus majored in Biology and Premedicine at Hunter College, graduating in 1940.

  • Primus joins the New Dance Group

    While attempting to find a job, Primus went to the NYA where she was cast as a dance group understudy. Her progress was so rapid that she was awarded a ​scholarship with the New Dance Group.

  • Dunham and company premiere "Tropics and Le Jazz Hot"

    This performance launched Dunham as an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer.

  • Dunham in "Cabin in the Sky"

    In 1940 Dunham collaborated with George Balanchine on choreography for dances in the musical play "Cabin in the Sky." In 1941 Dunham and her company begin their first United States tour in the Broadway production of "Cabin in the Sky."

  • Dunham movie debut in "Star Spangled Rhythm"

  • Primus dances at Cafe Society Downtown

    Primus performed as an entertainer with Cafe Society Downtown for ten months, leaving to study and teach with the New Dance Group.

  • Dunham and company premiere "Tropical Revue"

  • Primus's first professional debut

    While at the New Dance Group school, Primus studied books, articles, pictures, and museums as research on primitive dances. This research culminated in the composition and performance of "African Ceremonial," "Strange Fruit," "Rock Daniel," and "Hard Time Blues" at the 92nd St YMHA in New York in 1943.

  • Dunham opens The Dunham School of Dance and Theater

    The Dunham School of Dance and Theater opens in New York in Caravan Hall (Isadora Duncan's former studio) on West Fifty-ninth Street.

  • Primus studies the Deep South

    Primus, in preparation for her solo debut, visited 70 black churches and lived and picked cotton with sharecroppers in the south. These experiences served as a basis for compositions and articles Primus published with Africanist spiritual themes.

  • Primus studies in Africa

    Primus is awarded the last and largest Rosenwald Fellowships to travel and study dance in Africa. Over eighteen months, she visited the Gold Coast, Angola, Cameroon, Liberia, Senegal, and Belgian Congo. In each place, she both performed and observed, learned, and participated in indigenous African dances.

  • Dunham marries John Pratt

    In addition to being Dunham’s husband, John Pratt is credited with designing costumes and scenery for most of Dunham’s productions.

  • Primus studies dance in the West Indies

    In 1953, Primus spent the summer studying the dance of the West Indies. She also met future husband Percival Borde, whom she married in 1954.

  • Primus named director of Liberia's Performing Arts Center

  • Dunham's last appearance on Broadway

    Katherine Dunham, a few former Dunham dancers, and the Royal Troupe of Morocco appear in "Bamboche!" at New York's 54th Street Theater. After eight performances, the show closes and Dunham completes her final appearance on Broadway.

  • Primus opens Primus-Borde School of Primal Dance in NY

  • Dunham becomes first black choreographer for Metropolitan Opera's "Aida"

  • Dunham opens Katherine Dunham Museum and Children's Workshop

    The museum houses artifacts (costumes, photographs, original manuscripts) from Dunham's personal and performing career.

  • Primus receives Phd in Anthropology from NYU

  • Dunham receives Great Cross of Honor and Merit from Haitian Government

    Dunham was recognized and awarded the highest award a non-Haitian national can receive. That year she was also named as one of five great American artists at the Kennedy Center Honors Gala.

  • Dunham inducted into Hall of Fame of the National Museum of Dance

  • Pearl Primus Passes

  • Dunham named America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasure

  • Katherine Dunham Passes