The Contributions of a Select Group of African-American Women to Dance

Earlier, however, the cakewalk dancer, Aida Overton Walker, played a major part in popularizing the cakewalk for White audiences eager to transgress racial boundaries by associating with authentic ethnic forms (Krasner, 1996). The cakewalk originated from tribal African festival dances. While an original dance form, it often involved parody and caricature. Many African-Americans rejected the dance and recognized it with racial stereotyping. Krasner (1996) maintains that Walker's efforts contributed to the reputation from the cakewalk between both Black and White audiences.

Katherine Dunham observed dance in high school and took classes from classical ballet instructors in the 1920s and 1930s. Learning the dance rhythms and styles with the West Indies, Dunham also acquired a Master's degree in Anthropology (Emery, 1988). In 1939, Dunham was called the dance director with the New York Labor Stage. In this position, Dunham choreographed or revised numerous classical dances and made a series of uniquely African-American dance compositions.

Dunham worked in both the African-American and also the mainstream theater, appearing often on Broadway and popularizing numerous dance styles from the 1930s and 1940s. She established a well-trained ballet group in the early-to-mid-1940s and continued working throughout the 1950s and 1960s (Emery, 1988).

Long, R.A. (1989). The Black Tradition in American Dance.

Hightstown, NJ: Princeton Book Company.

Walker as well as the social formation of cakewalking. Theatre

African-American women and men have continued to create trends such as break-dancing, moonwalking, as well as other new social dance forms even though continuing to participate in concert dance and ballet (Emery, 1988). The major contributions of this group continue to rest upon their reinterpretation of African and Caribbean material and also the creation of a uniquely African-American dance genre that has been popularized throughout White American society as well.

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