May 22, 2006
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Story
Balanchine, Dunham
In memory of
Katherine Dunham,
who died Sunday at 96
“How much story do you want?”
– George BalanchineFrom pbs.org:
“In 1940 Dunham and her company
appeared in the black Broadway musical, ‘Cabin in the Sky,’ staged by
George Balanchine, in which Dunham played the sultry siren Georgia
Brown….”From the Library of Congress:
“George Balanchine and Katherine Dunham were, in effect,
co-choreographers of the dances in the show, at least for those in
which she and her dancers appeared. When choreographing for dancers
trained in techniques other than classical ballet, Balanchine’s habit
was to respect their expertise and their personal style, to allow them
as much creative input as they wished to make, and then to arrange
their steps, combinations, and movements into a unified choreographic
composition. Dunham found this method of collaboration quite agreeable,
and she and Balanchine enjoyed a particularly amicable working
relationship.The story of Cabin in the Sky centers on Little Joe, a
kindhearted but morally ambivalent Everyman, who is stabbed in a
dispute over a crap game, dies and is bound for Hell, but is saved by
his good wife’s prayers and given extra time on earth to qualify for
admission to Heaven. Dooley Wilson played Little Joe….”
“It’s still the
same old story….”
