Living with Legends

Katherine Dunham, a pioneering dancer, author and civil rights activist who abandoned Broadway to teach culture in East St. Louis, one of America’s poorest cities, has died. She was 96.  Dunham, according to the Chelsea Hotel website, (which does include some inaccuracies) once resided here at the Chelsea.  The story of Dunham’s career, "Dancing a Life," also refers to the Chelsea.  Florence Turner’s book, At The Chelsea, talks about the time that Dunham brought  lions to the hotel to rehearse for an upcoming performance at the Metropolitan Opera.