Lundstrum Performing Arts Honors Katherine Dunham and the Legacy of Black Dance in North Minneapolis
Lundstrum Performing Arts in North Minneapolis is hosting its second annual Katherine Dunham Residency March 25 to 29, offering community dance classes rooted in the legacy of the pioneering Black dancer, choreographer and activist.
Beats inspired by African drum music fill the air as drummers perform at the back of a dance studio. Moving to their tempo are adult students with special needs and, later, children ages 8 to 12.
Lundstrum Performing Arts in North Minneapolis is teaching African dance March 25–29 during its second year of the Katherine Dunham Residency. Community members of all ages and experience levels are invited to sign up for classes.
The residency at the dance, voice and drama school includes “Five Days of Dance,” with modern, ballet and hip-hop classes taught by visiting instructors Ashi Smythe and Rodney Hamilton.
“Katherine Dunham is not as well known as she needs to be,” said Amy Ellis Casserly, executive director of Lundstrum.
Dunham, an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist and social activist, combined ballet with African and Caribbean dance and helped start a movement with her technique, Ellis Casserly said.
Smythe, one of the visiting instructors, has a personal connection to Dunham and her legacy. Dunham was his godmother, and he began his dance career at the Katherine Dunham Center for the Arts in East St. Louis.
Beyond bringing his credentials to Lundstrum, Smythe hopes to show how Dunham’s influence has been incorporated into many forms of dance, including jazz and hip-hop.
The importance of Dunham and her technique as the matriarch of Black dance in America is vast, he said.
“A lot of people that you see doing dancing, they don’t even know that they’re doing Dunham technique,” he said.
If he had more time, Smythe said, he would teach dancers about Dunham’s life, including her struggles to gain recognition as a Black woman, along with her technique.
This year, the Katherine Dunham Residency is dedicated to the late Patrick Moore, a former Lundstrum instructor who also trained at the Katherine Dunham Performing Arts Center in East St. Louis. Moore taught at Lundstrum for 25 years, and one of his dreams was for the residency to continue, Ellis Casserly said.
The tribute makes the week even more meaningful for Smythe, who danced with Moore.
“When he passed, it was a shatter to my heart,” he said. “For me to come here, just to honor him at the place that he loved, and I can see why he loves this place because I loved it from my very first time coming here. I was like, ‘I see why, because the people, the atmosphere, the kids, I see why he does because it does feel like the studio that we grew up in.’”
Classes during the residency are $15 or pay-what-you-can.
“We just believe everybody should be able to take class,” Ellis Casserly said. “It’s not just for those who can afford it, it’s for those who want it and desire it. That’s why we’re here.”
For tickets, visit lundstrum.org/classes/katherine-dunham-workshop.
Damenica Ellis welcomes reader responses at dellis@spokesman-recorder.com.