KATHERINE DUNHAM

June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006

"When you have faith in something, it's your reason to be alive and to fight for it."

-- Katherine Dunham

Founded in 1989

THE THOMPSON SCHOOL OF DUNHAM TECHNIQUE & ALLIED ARTS

Springfield, IL (1976)

Dunham Institute-Atlanta, Inc. | P.O. Box 361780 | Decatur, GA  30036-1780

@2005 - 2007 www.katherinedunham.org   All Rights Reserved.

The Thompson School of Dunham Technique & Allied Arts was founded by Dunham protege Jackie Thompson and her husband Darnell Thompson.  It was located in an upstairs studio in downtown Springfield, IL.

The principal classes taught were Dunham Technique.  However, there were beginning classes in Ballet and West African as well.  Ancillary classes included instruction in Poise, Etiquette, Makeup/Grooming, Health & Nutrition, and Costuming.  Included in the initial staff were Jackie Thompson, Alma Redmond, Renee Fenner and Carolyn Redmond. Drummers included Marcus Hall and Leroy Thigpen.  The entire staff were transplants from the East St. Louis area and the Performing Arts Training Center (PATC).

During the course of the year, Jackie Thompson was instrumental in formulating a dance company, holding outdoor performances in community venues throughout Springfield, and recruiting star talent from the local area.  Outstanding students of the school included Carol Readus (Harris Lloyd), Yolanda Rice and Kimberlee Thomas.  All of whom were teenagers (at that time) residing in Springfield.  These three teenagers utilized the lessons learned from Dunham with Yolanda focusing her talents and becoming a professional model (while still a teenager), Kim was actively engaged as a physical education trainer, and Carol won a number of local beauty and talent competiions. Hence, their Dunham training placed them all in leadership roles within their community as teens.

Throughout the duration of her residency in Springfield, Jackie presented guest artists from PATC to include dance pioneer Archie Savage, Mor Thiam (Senegal), Eusébio Lobo da Silva (Brazil), Theodore Jamison, Andrea Smythe, Michael Green and a number of visiting artists from Senegal.  The proximity of the schools to one another (100 miles) allowed for a continuous influx of PATC trained artists.  Jackie, in turn, introduced to Springfield the best that East St. Louis had to offer.  It was a time of hope and promise for the Dunham legacy.  A rarity it was in that it was one of the few schools that Katherine Dunham sanctioned to carry the "Dunham" name during the course of her lifetime.

Carol & Kimberlee

High School Yearbook

Southeast High School

Springfield, IL

"Additionally, PATC has produced outstanding actors, dancers, percussionists, and a traveling company from among the native youngsters of East Saint Louis.  A former student, Jackie Thompson, has just opened the Thompson School of Dunham Technique and Allied Art in Springfield, Illinois."

Redmond, Eugene, "Cultural Fusion and Spiritual Unity" Kaiso  - Writings by and about Katherine Dunham ed. VeVe Clark and Sarah E. Johnson (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 2006) 558.