Katherine Dunham was a multifaceted choreographer, dancer, and anthropologist who dedicated her life to collecting, reinterpreting, and staging ethnic and ritualistic dances. Although she did not begin formal dance training until her late teens, her academic studies revealed to her the centrality of dance in native African cultures, which fueled her passion and scholarly interest. In an era marked by blatant racism against African Americans, Dunham founded and successfully ran the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, a self-supported organization that performed for decades.
