Modernism, Interracial Relations, Cultural Appropriation, And Katherine Dunham Meet (Or Collide) In A 1933 Ballet In Chicago

Liesl Olson investigates the strange and stirring history of La Guiablesse, an almost entirely lost 18-minute dance work based on French Caribbean folklore, with a white choreographer/star (Ruth Page) playing a she-devil, an otherwise entirely black cast, a colorful score by black composer William Grant Still, and the future star and pioneer Dunham as the spurned lover. (She took over as the eponymous demon the following year.) – Chicago Reader

Article source here:Arts Journal