Katherine Dunham, dancer and anthropologist, was one of the first African American women to attend the University of Chicago, where she earned bachelor and doctoral degree in anthropology. She connected with her own cultural roots focusing on dance, traveling throughout the Caribbean.
She created the Dunham Technique, which introduced rhythm as the backbone for modern dance principles. She opened her first dance and theater school in the 1940’s, whose approach was considered radical because it strayed from strictly European technique. This African American centered approach to dance is still practiced today.
