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Description
Ruth Beckford performed professionally as a child in vaudeville. She studied dance at UC-Berkeley and trained at Welland Lathrop and Anna Halprin's dance studio. She was the first African American performer in a Bay Area modern dance company. Beckford taught African-Haitian dance and was artistic director of an African-Haitian Dance Company. Ruth Beckford wrote the authorized biography of Katherine Dunham. Interview conducted for the Legacy Oral History Project. California Preservation Service (CAPS)
Vaudeville Dance--Haiti Dance--Africa Choreographers--San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) African American women Women dancers--San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) Dance--Study and teaching Beckford, Ruth Lathrop, Welland Halprin, Anna Dunham, Katherine
Provenance
Museum of Performance and Design California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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