Katherine Dunham:

Film Choreography

(from Katherine Dunham: A Biography by Ruth Beckford (New York: Marcell Dekker Inc., 1979)

Carnival of Rhythm (1941 – USA)

Producer: Warner Brothers

Director: Stanley Martin

Color (one of the first Technicolor Film Shorts)

Description: Eighteen-minute film entirely dedicated to Katherine Dunham and Company, containing the following Dunham choreography:

Ciudad Marvaillosa

Los Indios

Batucada

Adeus Terras

Pardon My Sarong (1942 – USA)

Producer: Universal Pictures

Director: Eric C. Kenton

Color

No personal appearance by either Katherine Dunham or her company

Star Spangled Rhythm (1942 – USA)

Producer: Paramount Pictures

Director: George Marshall

Black & White

Personal appearances by Katherine Dunham

Stormy Weather (1943 – USA)

Producer: Twentieth Century Fox

Director: Andrew Stone

Black & White

Personal appearance by Katherine Dunham and Company

Choreography for the Dunham Company by Katherine Dunham

Casbah (1948 – USA)

Producer: Universal Pictures

Director: John Berry

Black & White

Personal appearance by Katherine Dunham and Company

Ramadan Festival and Casbah Nightclub choreography by Katherine Dunham

Botta e Risposta (1950 – Italy)

Producer: Ponti-de Laurentiis

Director: Marlo Soldati

Black & White

Personal appearance by Katherine Dunham and Company

Contains the following numbers from the Dunham repertoire:

Batucada

Jazz in Five Movements (segments)

The print is property of De Larentiis Cinematografica, Rome

Mambo (1954 – Italy)

Producer: Ponti-de Laurentiis for Paramount Pictures

Director: Robert Rosen

Black & White

Personal appearance by Katherine Dunham and Company

Contains exclusive and rare footage of the Dunham Company in classroom demonstrations of the Dunham Technique.

The following five mumbers were choreographed expressly for the film:

Coboclo do Mato (sung and danced by Katherine Dunham)

Baiao

Sube Expuma (danced by Katherine Dunham)

New Love, New Wine

Mambo

The print is the property of Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, Rome.  A copy is also available in the United States through Paramount Pictures.

Liebes Sender (1954 – Germany)

Black & White

Personal appearance by Katherine Dunham and Company

Contains exclusive and rare footage of the Dunham Company in classroom demonstrations of the Dunham Technique.

Contains the following numbers from the Dunham repertoire:

Choros (No. 1 and No. 4)

Shango

Tropics

A print of this film cannot be located

Musica en la Noche (1955 – Mexico)

Producer: Alianza Cinematografica

Director: Tito Davidson

Color

Personal appearance by Katherine Dunham and Company

Contains the following numbers from the Dunham repertoire:

Dora

Cakewalk

A print of can be obtained through Cinelaboratorio S.A., in Mexico, D.F.

Green Mansions (1958 – U.S.A.)

Producer: M.G.M.

Director: Mel Ferrer

Color

Choreography by Katherine Dunham

Karaibishe Rhythmen (1960 – Austria)

Produced for television by WDR Fersehen, Kohn, Germany

Director: Gunther Hassert

Black & White

Television special entirely dedicated to Katherine Dunham and her Company

Contains the following numbers from the Dunham repertoire:

AfriqueSamba

Rhumba TrioFloyd’d Guitar Blues

Choros (No. 1 and No. 4)Strutter’s Ball

CumbiaCakewalk

The Bible (1964 – Italy)

Producer:  Dino de Laurentiis for Twentieth Centry Fox/Seven Arts

Director: John Houston

Color

Sodom and Gomorrah and Fest dance sequences conceived, staged, and choreographed by Katherine Dunham.

Note:  Although Katherine Dunham and Company appeared on numerous television programs throughout the world, most of these programs were not recorded, which resulted in limited or no documentation of these performances.