ZURICH — Othella Dallas lay on the hardwood floor of the Sportanlage Sonnenberg, her legs midair, toes pointed and back slightly arched. The percussive jabbing of a djembe reverberated throughout the large space, its counts growing in intensity as Ms. Dallas, 93, held her position with visible ease. Give me that body.”Dunham is Katherine Dunham, who has been called the matriarch and queen mother of black dance, and Ms. Dallas, dressed in a glittery sleeveless turtleneck, was teaching a master class in Dunham technique. With its subtly sensual pelvic contractions, second position jumps and torso isolations, the technique was foundational to modern dance and brought a codified translation of black self-expression to the international stage. Ms. Dallas is one of the few founding members of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company still alive — and the only one still teaching, primarily through a dance school she opened in Basel in 1975.

Source: International New York Times April 30, 2019 16:18 UTC