Group of Three Programs, One Signed, for Productions of Katherine Dunham and Her Company, 1940s–1950s.
New York and Washington: Various publishers, 1945–1955. Generally very good. Item #List3607
A group of illustrated programs documenting mid-century performances of the dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Katherine Dunham (1909–2006), one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century American dance. Trained in anthropology at the University of Chicago, Dunham conducted field research in Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad during the 1930s, developing a distinctive choreographic style that blended Caribbean dance traditions with modern theatrical performance. Her company, founded in Chicago in 1931, became one of the most prominent Black dance ensembles in the United States and toured widely in North America, Europe, and Latin America.
Titles are as follows:
Katherine Dunham presents Bal Negre, A Brilliant Dance Revue.
New York: Al Greenstone, circa 1946. [16] pp. plus illustrated wrappers, 11¾ × 9 inches. Illustrated throughout with photographs of Dunham and members of the company.
S. Hurok Presents Katherine Dunham and her Company in Tropical Revue.
New York: Hurok Productions, circa 1945. [16] pp. plus illustrated wrappers, 11¾ × 9 inches. Wrappers separating at fold; otherwise very good.
Katherine Dunham and Her Company. Sam S. Shubert Theatre program.
Washington, D.C., November 14, 1955. 15, [1] pp. including wrappers, 9¼ × 6¾ inches. Light toning, early repairs to final leaf. Signed on the front cover: “To Nellie Wood, sincerely, Katherine Dunham.”
The productions represented here—Tropical Revue and Bal Negre—were among the best-known programs performed by the Dunham company during the 1940s, combining dance, music, and theatrical spectacle while introducing Caribbean and Afro-diasporic dance forms to mainstream American audiences. The Shubert Theatre playbill, signed by Dunham, documents a Washington engagement in November 1955 and includes a portrait gallery of company members such as Lavinia Williams, Laverne French, and Claude Marchant.
Price: $375.00