The Katherine Dunham Legacy Keeper Award

The Institute for Dunham Technique Certification has established an award besides “Certified Teacher” to expand the Dunham Legacy called the “Legacy Keeper” award. Begun in 2012, this award is given to individuals who have dedicated a lifetime to preserving and promoting Katherine Dunham’s legacy through teaching, choreographing, writing, and/or community activism in a particular community. It is given to those who have been promoting the legacy for 25 years or more.

The following is the text of the award:

A Legacy Keeper is one who has been involved in sharing the life’s work of Miss Katherine Dunham with dance students, scholars, and the general public, through teaching, performing, choreography, writing, fundraising, lecturing.

A Legacy Keeper has promoted the contributions of Miss Dunham’s work for a documented twenty-five years or more, and has an outstanding reputation for his/her/ their professional work in a particular community, where the Dunham Legacy has been a major part.

A Legacy Keeper is one who has contributed significantly to the Dunham Legacy by his/her acknowledgement, participation, and/or financial contribution to the Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities or the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification.

A Legacy Keeper is one who has taken the time and effort to familiarize him/herself/themselves with all the unique contributions that Miss Dunham made throughout her life both on and off the stage, and has participated in the Annual Dunham Technique Seminars and the Dunham Technique Conference. Although not a Certified Teacher, he/she is a recognized knowledgeable person of the Dunham Legacy.

current Legacy Keeper Awardees:

• Barbea Williams--Tucson, Arizona-–2012

• Luther “Obrafo” Alridge--Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--2013

• Dr. Yvonne Daniel--San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area, California--2013

• Dr. Linda Goodrich--Sacramento, California--2013

• Mor Thiam--Miami, Florida/Senegal--2014