Dunham did not dance as a young girl. Her mother died when she was young and her family was messy. She grew to love her stepmother, Annette Dunham. Her parents hoped she would become a teacher. She attended the University of Chicago, following in her older brother’s footsteps. At that time, there were very few African American women pursuing college degrees.

Dunham earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago. During her studies, she chose to focus on the dances of the african diaspora. In 1935, she received a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to study the dances of the West Indies. She used the funds to travel the caribbean and conduct research. She studied the traditional ritual and cultural dances in Accompong, …show more content…
She became a student of Ludmilla Speranzeva, formerly of the Moscow Theater, Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page. After college graduation, she founded the Negro Dance Group. This group performed ‘A Negro Rhapsody’ alongside the Chicago Opera Company. 1939 where, in February, she opened at the Windsor Theater in a program called ‘Tropics’ and le ‘Jazz Hot’. It was supposed to be a one-night event but demand was such that Dunham ended up doing 13 weeks, and followed with her own Tropical Revue, which was a hit not only in the United States but also in Canada. This led her to a featured role in the 1940 Broadway hit Cabin in the Sky, for which she also contributed …show more content…
After her tour through the African diaspora, she returned to the United States informed by new methods of movement and expression. Based on the rhythms and movements she learned during her research, Dunham developed a groundbreaking new aesthetic and technique that combined these styles with ballet and modern dance. This was the basis for the Dunham Technique which transformed the world of dance. “Sean Cheesman says, ‘It’s a fusion of African dance with the technical elements of jazz.’”(McNamara). She brought ballet and cultural dances together. At age 92 was still trying to impart everything she knew to participants in her master class at the Convention/summit