Approaching its sixth decade of success, DCDC is a vital performing arts institution and a seasoned arts education resource.

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1968 by Jeraldyne Blunden to provide a place where gifted African American dancers could flourish. This included space and resources where inspired creators could work unencumbered, and where youth were encouraged in absolute freedom of expression.

Her vision began in 1963 with a dance school for African American youth excluded from the city’s segregated dance studios. Five years later with a corps of outstanding dancers Jeraldyne established the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.


Today we continue to witness the phenomenal success of her vision. From its founding, to this day, DCDC continues to be at the forefront of the Black contemporary/modern dance movement.

DCDC has toured the world, dancing on stage for packed houses in Bermuda, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia,South Korea, and throughout the United States.

“Man has created boundaries for race, religion, and culture. If we can get past that, we can realize that there is much more in life which connects us.”

— JERALDYNE BLUNDEN

The Founder

Jeraldyne Blunden left a permanent mark on the field of contemporary dance by founding the 10th oldest modern dance company in the nation. Her life’s work as dancer, creator, teacher, and entrepreneur drew scores of artists to work with her directly. She inspired and encouraged generations of young women and men to become artists and leaders. Her company, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, has grown to be one of the most innovative in the nation, and continues to be at the forefront of the Black contemporary/modern dance movement.

She was born in Dayton, Ohio on December 10, 1940 to Winifred and Elijah Kilborn. Her dance studies began in 1948 when a number of African American mothers, Jeraldyne’s mother included, approached the Schwarz School of Dance, to offer quality dance training to their children. Unfortunately, the studio, did not admit black children. The studio owners, however, embraced the idea of establishing a satellite school at the Linden Center, a recreation hub in the African American community. Jeraldyne soon excelled under the guidance of Josephine and Hermene Schwarz, who, recognizing Jeraldyne’s extraordinary gifts, made her, at age nineteen, director of dance classes at the Linden Center. Under her leadership, the student population soon outgrew the center’s capacity. Local African American parents, representing a growing black middle class, were seeking diverse educational opportunities for their children. A dance school that catered to them, led by the young and talented Jeraldyne Kilborn, fit the bill perfectly.

To better support her vision of a dance school serving the African American community, Jeraldyne, chartered her own dance school in 1963 and then, in 1968 she founded the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as a performance outlet for 12 of her most gifted students.

Jeraldyne shaped DCDC as an institution where great dance could happen, where youth could grow into accomplished artists and responsible citizens. She emphasized a dance education rooted in the rigorous ballet and modern training she was exposed to in New York and elsewhere, combined with cultural content relevant to the African American community. Her insistence on excellence, personal accountability and civic responsibility meant that young people saw themselves as practitioners of an art form that had far reaching benefits beyond the classroom and stage.

Jeraldyne foresaw that many Black choreographers’ most notable works could have a home within her company and she began acquiring many of these masterpieces. When the American Dance Festival launched its Black Tradition in American Modern Dance in 1988, DCDC would be a prominent interpreter of Black masterworks. On the strength of DCDC’s prior reconstructions – works by Eleo Pomare, Donald McKayle and Talley Beatty – the company would be most often trusted by project choreographers to reproduce their works. Outside of the Black Tradition, Jeraldyne also sought works from Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, Lynne Taylor Corbett, Jose Limon, Alvin Ailey, Doug Varone, Dianne McIntyre, and Donald Byrd.

Jeraldyne gave young dance creators in need of experience opportunities to experiment and create on her dancers. These young choreographers received extended periods of work-time with the company, unusually generous back then and now. This strategy benefited the company and the choreographers, leading to increased exposure for all, and in some cases, masterpieces. This list included Ulysses Dove, Bebe Miller, Sir Warren Spears, Donald Byrd, Dwight Rhoden and Ronald K. Brown.

In 2001 DCDC was prominently featured in the PBS Great Performances documentary, Free to Dance, produced by the American Dance Festival. A multi – part series, the documentary presented the many dances that were reconstructed through ADF’s Black Tradition project. But, it also ventured beyond the past to explore new directions in African American Choreography. Jeraldyne was intimately involved with the planning of this powerful story of Black dance in America, but unfortunately passed away before the project was completed and aired.

Jeraldyne Blunden was one of the five co-founders, alongside Joan Myers Brown, Cleo Parker Robinson, Anne Williams and Lula Washington, of the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the largest African American arts service organization in the country. IABD was recently awarded the National Medal of the Arts by former President Joseph R. Biden.

Throughout her life, Jeraldyne received numerous awards and commendations. They included: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award (1994), The Katherine Dunham Achievement Award (1998), The Dance Magazine Award (1998), The National Black Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award (1998), Dance Women Living Legend Honors (1997), The Regional Dance America Northeast Award (1991), The Dance/USA 2000 Honors Award (posthumously), and Honorary doctorates from the University of Dayton and Wright State University.

Jeraldyne Blunden died on November 22, 1999, at age 58. Her life and work have had a long lasting impact on the community that she served and loved. Although beset with the challenges of establishing an African American dance company in a time reeling from the effects of discrimination, assassinations, civil rights struggles, the destruction and neglect of African American spaces, Jeraldyne doggedly persisted in launching a school and company that would serve and showcase these communities and become the pride of Ohio and the nation.

Jennifer Dunning from the New York Times described Blunden’s legacy as a beloved leader in the dance world, stating, “That no-nonsense approach to life was mixed with steely determination, a great personal warmth and humor and an unsentimental humanity that made her a much-loved figure on the national dance scene.”