May 20
Born Today:
Joann Kealiinohomoku
Dance Anthropologist and writer Joann Wheeler Kealiinohomoku (1930-2015) was a thoughtful dance writer who wondered why we separated so-called "ethnic dance" from other genres of dance, particularly ballet. She felt that this group label relegated dances from other countries to second-class status, beneath European-centric dances. Her dissertation on the subject helped to inspire a paradigm shift regarding how dance researchers, writers, and critics analyze and evaluate dance. Now called World Dance Studies, the name is still problematic, but more egalitarian. Kealiinohomoku founded Cross-Cultural Dance Studies in 1981 and the organization’s archives contain the papers of dance ethnologist Gertrude Kurath (1903-1992) and dancer/professor Eleanor King (1906-1991)
Also Born Today: Swedish ballet dancer Christian Johansson (1817-1903) relocated to Russia in 1841 to dance with the Russian Imperial Ballet until 1866, when he became the ballet master and trained the dancers that choreographers Marius Petipa (1818-1910) and Lev Ivanov (1834-1901) used in their most famous classical ballets.
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Movie: Viva Las Vegas in 1964