Katherine Dunham’s L’Ag’Ya
Katherine Dunham produced her first full-length ballet, L’Ag’Ya (1938) in Chicago under FTP sponsorship. Dunham based L’Ag’Ya on a fable of love, jealousy, and revenge. The work combined ballet, modern dance, and traditional folk and social dance forms and culminated with the ag’ya, a fighting dance of Martinique. In 1938, she was named director of the Negro Unit of Chicago.
Katherine Dunham produced her first full-length ballet, <em>L’Ag’Ya</em> (1938) in Chicago under FTP sponsorship. Dunham based <em>L’Ag’Ya</em> on a fable of love, jealousy, and revenge. The work combined ballet, modern dance, and traditional folk and social dance forms and culminated with the ag’ya, a fighting dance of Martinique. In 1938, she was named director of the Negro Unit of Chicago.