Dunham's Data: Katherine Dunham and Digital Methods for Dance Historical Inquiry, Personnel Check-In, 1937-1962

The Check-In Dataset is the second public-use dataset in the Dunham's Data series, a unique data collection created by Kate Elswit (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London) and Harmony Bench (The Ohio State University) to explore questions and problems that make the analysis and visualization of data meaningful for dance history through the case study of choreographer Katherine Dunham.
The Check-In Dataset accounts for the comings and goings of Dunham's nearly 200 dancers, drummers, and singers and discerns who among them were working in the studio and theatre together over the years from 1937 to 1962. As with the Everyday Itinerary Dataset, the first public-use dataset from Dunham's Data, data on check-ins come from scattered sources. Due to information available, it has a greater level of ambiguity as many dates are approximated in order to achieve accurate chronological sequence. By showing who shared time and space together, the Check-In Dataset can be used to trace potential lines of transmission of embodied knowledge within and beyond the Dunham Company.

Dunham's Data: Digital Methods for Dance Historical Inquiry is funded by the United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC AH/R012989/1, 2018-2022) and is part of a larger suite of ongoing digital collaborations by Bench and Elswit, Movement on the Move. The Dunham's Data team also includes digital humanities postdoctoral research assistant Antonio Jiménez-Mavillard and dance history postdoctoral research assistants Takiyah Nur Amin and Tia-Monique Uzor.
For more information about Dunham's Data, please see the Dunham's Data website. Also, visit the Dunham's Data research blog to view the interactive visualizations based on the Dunham's Data.