093_HR0527

 
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 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of  Representatives  of
 3    the  State  of  Illinois are pleased to honor citizens of the
 4    State who have contributed much throughout their lives; and

 5        WHEREAS, Katherine Dunham was born in Joliet in 1909; she
 6    is a dancer, an entertainer, and an  educator;  through  hard
 7    work  and  unbelievable  dedication  to  her  craft,  she has
 8    changed the face of modern dance and has changed  many  lives
 9    as a result; and

10        WHEREAS,  In  the  1930s,  Ms.  Dunham  taught ballet and
11    modern  dance  at  the  University  of  Chicago;  she  joined
12    Chicago's Federal Theatre Project in 1938  and  composed  her
13    ballet,  L'Ag'Ya;  while  working  on  her master's degree in
14    anthropology, she made a trip to the  Caribbean  and  Brazil,
15    where  she  encountered  new dance movements and rhythms that
16    would influence her work; she later moved to  New  York  City
17    and choreographed the Broadway hit Cabin in the Sky; and

18        WHEREAS,  In  1939, she married John Pratt, a painter and
19    costume and set designer;  they  had  one  adopted  daughter,
20    Martinique; and

21        WHEREAS,  Ms.  Dunham  served  as  professor emeritus and
22    artist-in-residence  at  Southern  Illinois   University   in
23    Edwardsville;  she  was  the  director  of the East St. Louis
24    Performing Arts Center, which was later named  the  Katherine
25    Dunham  Center  for  the  Arts in her honor; she served as an
26    advisor at the State Department and as a lecturer in  college
27    and university settings; and

28        WHEREAS,  Ms. Dunham is a member of the Women's Honorable
29    Scientific Fraternity at the University of Chicago; she is  a
30    member  of the Royal Society of Anthropologists in London; in
31    1978, the Katherine Dunham museum was established in East St.
 
                            -2-      LRB093 12242 HSS 17425 r
 1    Louis, displaying costumes that she has worn in performances,
 2    items from her travels, paintings,  sculptures,  and  musical
 3    instruments; and

 4        WHEREAS,  Katherine Dunham received the Albert Schweitzer
 5    Music Award in 1979, the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1983,
 6    and honorary degrees from USV, Dartmouth, Howard  University,
 7    and  Washington University; in 1986, she received the Scripps
 8    American Dance Festivals Award; she has  been  inducted  into
 9    the  Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame; the building which houses
10    the  departments  of  theater  and  dance,  music,  and  mass
11    communications at the University of Illinois at  Edwardsville
12    is named Katherine Dunham Hall in her honor; therefore, be it

13        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
14    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
15    we  congratulate Katherine Dunham on the occasion of her 94th
16    birthday celebration on Sunday, June 22, 2003, and  we  thank
17    her  for  her outstanding contributions to the world of dance
18    and theater, and be it further

19        RESOLVED, That we  recognize  Katherine  Dunham  for  her
20    groundbreaking  work  in  the  area  of dance, especially for
21    opening doors for African-American dancers; and be it further

22        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
23    presented  to  Ms.  Katherine  Dunham as an expression of our
24    respect and esteem.