The Duke Dance Program is excited to present a Katherine Dunham Residency with April Berry from September 28 to October 2 at the Rubenstein Arts Center. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with April Berry, an original cast member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s The Magic of Katherine Dunham and transmitter of Ms. Dunham's legacy.
Monday, September 28
(Students: if you are already registered for classes during this time, you do not need to sign up.)
- 1:25-2:40 Dunham Technique with April Berry, Rubenstein Arts Center 224 SIGN UP Classes accompanied by percussionists: Bashir Shakur, Phillip Liver Pool, Richard Vinesett and Beverly Botsford.
- 6:15-7:30 Dunham Technique with April Berry, Rubenstein Arts Center 224 SIGN UP Classes accompanied by percussionists: Bashir Shakur, Phillip Liver Pool, Richard Vinesett and Beverly Botsford.
Tuesday, September 29
- 4:40-5:55 Dunham Technique, open class for dance educators and dancers. Rubenstein Arts Center 224. For this master class, we welcome dance educators to participate in or observe. Ms. Berry is interested in engaging with educators, dance leaders and organizers and dancers for a unique and rich experience. SIGN UP Classes accompanied by percussionists: Bashir Shakur, Phillip Liver Pool, Richard Vinesett and Beverly Botsford.
- 6:15-7:45 – Excerpts from The Magic of Katherine Dunham film screening. Rubenstein Arts Center Film Theater, 1st Floor. April Berry will be present for a screening of excerpts from The Magic of Katherine Dunham, originally presented by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. SIGN UP
Wednesday, September 30
- 10:05-11:20 Dunham Technique with April Berry, Rubenstein Arts Center 224 SIGN UP Classes accompanied by percussionists: Bashir Shakur, Phillip Liver Pool, Richard Vinesett and Beverly Botsford.
Thursday, October 1
- 6:15-7:45 Katherine Dunham, Holistic Practice: Dance Education and Activism Community Conversation and Panel, Rubenstein Arts Center 202. SIGN UP
- 7:45 - Reception to follow in the Ruby Lounge
Panel: Moderator - Andrea E. Woods Valdes, Duke Dance Program
- April Berry
- Nile Russell, American Dance Festival Director of Education
- Kristi Vincent Johnson, North Carolina Central University Dance Director
- Carol Finley, Meredith College Chair
- Keisha Gee, Elon University
- Robin Gee, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Director of Graduate Studies
- Baba Ayo Matory, Duke University Distinguished Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Open to the public. All are welcome.
We invite you to a community conversation with April Berry to bring together your experience in the master class and film screening. The discussion invites conversation about the Dunham class process and the importance of the Magic of Katherine Dunham and Ms. Dunham's multidimensional work as a choreographer, teacher, writer, anthropologist, and cultural activist. Triangle Area dance educator panelists will share their unique perspectives on diverse dance planning, pedagogy and community building with arts education and activism.
April Berry brings to the conversation her knowledge of and experience with Dunham’s pedagogical approaches to holistic education, the Dunham Technique as it developed from Katherine Dunham's choreography, community activism, and socialization through the arts and practices that have emerged in relation to Ms. Dunham’s innovative, foundational work, which is vital and impactful as a community-building and transformational force.
Free parking is available. Anderson and Campus Drive lot .
This residency was made possible by the Hymowitz Guest Artist Fund.
April Berry is a dance director, master instructor, dance educator, consultant, stager, choreographer, and an internationally acclaimed former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Berry is a recognized dance teacher and has taught most recently at the Ailey Extension in NYC, the School at Jacobs Pillow, and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) School. Ms. Berry teaches ballet, jazz, Horton, repertory classes, and is a certified Dunham Technique master instructor, certified directly by American dance pioneer, Dr. Katherine Dunham. Ms. Berry was born and raised in Queens, New York by a West Indian mother and a Harlem, N.Y. born father As a dance artist with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Berry performed in signature choreographies of many renowned 20th century choreographers on stages around the world under Founding Artistic Director Alvin Ailey and Artistic Emerita Judith Jamison, and was honored to represent the Ailey Company as a solo dancer on two Ailey season posters. Berry is a featured dancer in the recent documentary AILEY, by filmmaker Jamila Wignot, and has performed on various Ailey videos and in television specials, most notably two televised Kennedy Center Honors programs celebrating the life and work of Katherine Dunham and of Alvin Ailey.
Actively involved in the field of dance education and community engagement since 1992, Berry has created award-winning programs for several U.S. ballet organizations and currently serves as an artist-in-residence, master teacher, guest lecturer, and dance consultant across the United States. Ms. Berry has been honored by several institutions, including an invitation by Dance/USA to serve as the Founding Chair for Dance/USA’s inaugural Community Engagement and Education Directors Affinity Group from 2018- 2021, and an award for “Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Dance” from the International Association of Blacks in Dance, among others.