67:
company, with a production titled
Bamboula to Ballet (later Bamboula to Bop) which presented the development of a truly African-American style of dance. The company made successful tours of the United States and Israel in the early 1950s which enabled her to join her son and daughter who had settled in Los Angeles. For a period, she operated a school of dance in there before moving to New York in 1955 where she again opened a school although neither of these was as successful as her school in Chicago. As a result, she took up additional work, teaching in the local public schools, arranging summer workshops, and teaching yoga to those working for the
96:
With a view to writing a history of
African-American dance, over the years Flowers collected a substantial amount of information on the popularization of African-American dance in the 20th century and its origins in the 19th century. Her papers are now stored in the Northwestern University Archives.
66:
In 1944, Katherine
Flowers opened the Flowers School of Dance in Chicago, teaching ballet and classical dance while forming a group of professional dancers known as the Katherine Flowers Dancers. By 1949, when she retired from public school teaching, she was devoting all her time to the dance
39:, where as a nine-year-old she danced with friends in her backyard. As an African-American, it was not easy for her to embark on a professional dance career but in 1913 she was able to study voice, dramatics and pageantry at
19:(1896–1982) was an African American dancer, choreographer and teacher who in 1944 opened the successful "Flowers School of Dance" in Chicago. She also carried out extensive research on the history of
63:
who took a special interest in
African studies. From 1924, she spent 25 years in Chicago teaching physical education in the city's public schools while continuing her interest in dance.
35:
as the daughter of Mattie
Jefferson (1877–1955), Flowers showed an interest in dance from the age of seven when she performed at folk festivals. In 1904, she moved with her parents to
59:, Chicago, where she graduated in 1924. While she was there she began to take a special interest in the history of African-American dance, strongly encouraged by anthropologist
274:
269:
40:
249:
264:
186:
259:
147:
254:
239:
55:. She also performed as a professional dancer at the Cairo Opera House. She returned to her studies in physical education at
43:
where she became a member of the
Orchesis Society dance club. In the summer, she taught dance at the Kansas City YWCA.
244:
85:
122:
56:
51:
Flowers' first assignment after graduation was as a physical education teacher at the Sumner High School in
20:
36:
74:
Flowers' left two children, Posie and
Orlando. Posie Flowers, who was also a dancer, performed in the
234:
229:
60:
84:
in the 1940s while
Orlando Flowers Jr. (1920–1974) was the first African-American colonel in the
97:
They also contain information about
Katherine Dunham with whom she collaborated from the 1940s.
182:
75:
52:
151:
68:
32:
223:
175:
80:
202:
150:. Kristin P. Bergfeld: Bergfeld's Estate Clearance Service. Archived from
123:"Guide to the Katherine Flowers (1896-1982) Papers"
174:
205:. Black Metropolis Research Consortium Survey
8:
142:
140:
105:
117:
115:
113:
111:
109:
71:. She died in New York in July 1982.
7:
275:20th-century African-American people
270:20th-century African-American women
173:Herskovits, Melville Jean (1990).
14:
125:. Northwestern University Library
148:"Katherine Flowers (1896 -1982)"
250:African-American female dancers
41:Kansas State Teacher's College
1:
265:20th-century American dancers
17:Katherine Jefferson Flowers
291:
260:People from Sherman, Texas
203:"Katherine Flowers Papers"
177:The Myth of the Negro Past
86:California National Guard
255:American dance teachers
240:American female dancers
57:Northwestern University
23:from the 19th century.
21:African American dance
37:Kansas City, Missouri
61:Melville Herskovits
245:Dancers from Texas
188:978-0-8070-0905-5
282:
215:
214:
212:
210:
199:
193:
192:
181:. Beacon Press.
180:
170:
164:
163:
161:
159:
144:
135:
134:
132:
130:
119:
290:
289:
285:
284:
283:
281:
280:
279:
220:
219:
218:
208:
206:
201:
200:
196:
189:
172:
171:
167:
157:
155:
154:on 4 March 2016
146:
145:
138:
128:
126:
121:
120:
107:
103:
94:
53:Cairo, Illinois
49:
29:
12:
11:
5:
288:
286:
278:
277:
272:
267:
262:
257:
252:
247:
242:
237:
232:
222:
221:
217:
216:
194:
187:
165:
136:
104:
102:
99:
93:
90:
78:production of
69:United Nations
48:
45:
33:Sherman, Texas
28:
25:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
287:
276:
273:
271:
268:
266:
263:
261:
258:
256:
253:
251:
248:
246:
243:
241:
238:
236:
233:
231:
228:
227:
225:
204:
198:
195:
190:
184:
179:
178:
169:
166:
153:
149:
143:
141:
137:
124:
118:
116:
114:
112:
110:
106:
100:
98:
91:
89:
87:
83:
82:
77:
72:
70:
64:
62:
58:
54:
46:
44:
42:
38:
34:
26:
24:
22:
18:
207:. Retrieved
197:
176:
168:
156:. Retrieved
152:the original
127:. Retrieved
95:
81:Carmen Jones
79:
73:
65:
50:
30:
16:
15:
235:1982 deaths
230:1896 births
224:Categories
101:References
27:Early life
209:18 March
158:18 March
129:17 March
76:Broadway
31:Born in
185:
92:Legacy
47:Career
211:2014
183:ISBN
160:2014
131:2014
226::
139:^
108:^
88:.
213:.
191:.
162:.
133:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.