-
Katherine Dunham is born.
Katherine Dunham was born in Chicago. Her father was of African descent, and her mother was French-Canadian and American Indian. Her background and culture would later inspire her style of dance. -
Katherine Dunham begins to study ballet.
Katherine Dunham studies ballet with Ludmilla Speranzeva. Speranzeva was one of the first teachers to accept black dancers as students. -
Katherine Dunham studies anthropology at the University of Chicago.
This helps to shape her style of dance. -
Katherine Dunham forms a dance company called Ballet Nègre.
This was one of the first Negro dance companies in the United States. She wanted to help African Americans learn about their heritage. -
Dunham dances the leading role in Ruth Page's ballet La Guiablesse
In a Chicago Opera production, Dunham receives the leading role in a ballet that features black dancers. -
Katherine studies dances of the West Indies.
Dunham receives a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to study the dances of the West Indies. She travels from Jamaica to Haiti through 1936. -
Katherine Dunham produces a full-length ballet.
Dunham choreographs and produces her first full-length ballet, L'Ag'Ya, which debuts in January at the Federal Theater, Chicago. She coproduced this ballet with her future husband, John Pratt. -
Dunham tours the United States in Cabin in the Sky
Dunham and her company of dancers and musicians embark on their first United States tour in the Broadway production of Cabin in the Sky. -
Dunham and her company begin to tour the world
The company travels to Mexico where they stay for 2 months due to popularity. They then travel for the next 20 years to over 33 countries to perform. The tour ended in 1960 in Vienna. -
Dunham retires.
Katherine performs one final show at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. After she retired, she continued to choreograph many other productions. -
Katherine Dunham dies of natural causes
Katherine dies in New York City. She is remembered for her interpretations of ethnic dances as well as her love of black culture. In the later years of her life, she was an activist for equality. At age 83, she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the United States's foreign policy against Haitian boat-people.
