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Article: Katherine Dunham, acclaimed dancer and choreographer, dies at 96.(Obituary)
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- May 22, 2006
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Byline: Sid Smith
She would deserve acclaim if she mastered only one of her many areas of endeavor.
But Katherine Dunham conquered and innovatively synthesized them all _ serious dance, movies, Broadway shows, field anthropology and social activism.
Dunham, 96, died Sunday at an assisted living facility in New York City of immediately undetermined cause. Decades before the civil rights movement, she helped pioneer the path for African-Americans in the serious arts.
"It's impossible to reduce her importance and contribution to one or two things," said Bonnie Brooks, chair of the dance department at Columbia College in Chicago. "She ...