Ann
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Dance Visionary. Creative Powerhouse.
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Anna Grayson (formerly known as Anna Smith and affectionately as Anna Margaret) was a Katherine Dunham dancer in the 1940s and 1950s as well as credited as a Wardrobe Mistress while on tours with the company. From her experience with the Katherine Dunham Dance Co she had her own vision on the revolution of dance. Anna Grayson along with her son Jo Jo Smith and partner Sue Samuels founded Jo Jo's Dance Factory together in downtown Manhattan. Anna Grayson's role was the executive director while Jo Jo Smith and Sue Samuels ran the creative operations. Jo Jo's Dance Factory is now known as Broadway Dance Center which is still operating till this day. Anna Grayson's relationship with Katherine Dunham, the company, and the mission behind Katherine Dunham's art and anthropology were still held close in her heart. Anna Grayson ran the Katherine Dunham Council of the Preservation of the Cultural Arts to preserve the history and legacy of Katherine Dunham and the company's cultural impact and also had a large hand in reopening the school in East St. Louis.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg...
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Career Life
Obituary
Anna Margaret Grayson was born, Anna Margaret Foster in Chester, South Carolina
on November 22, 1919, to Margaret Elizabeth Ayers and James Foster. She moved to New York City at the age of eleven to join her mother who had relocated before her to prepare a home for her and her two siblings.
Raised in Harlem in the 1930s, her values were strengthened and further nurtured by the climate of the Harlem Renaissance implanting strongly within her the seeds of intellectual, spiritual and artistic pursuits as well as pride in African American culture; all of which became lifelong endeavors. At the age of 16 she graduated from Hunter High School in NYC and then attended Hunter College. She dated then married Joseph Benjamin Smith Sr. During that union, two sons were born, Joseph (Jo Jo) and Robert (Bobby). After she and Joseph, Sr. parted, she joined the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. There she toured with the company with children in tow to London and Paris and then to other countries. On that first tour she met a new member of the Dunham Company, Milton B. Grayson, Jr. They fell in love and married soon after. From the union three daughters were born, Denise, Yvette and Mignon. After she resigned from dancing, she became personal assistant to Katherine Dunham and then later became personal assistant to her long-time friend, Eartha Kitt.
Anna had an incredible entrepreneurial spirit. She began her business pursuits in partnership with Wilson Woodbeck, called Anna-Will Associates. They managed musical acts one being a female trio called "The Intrigues," which gained local notoriety Anna tried her hand at various businesses. She also obtained her real estate license and was a Broker for various agencies. Later she added on the field of insurance as an Agent for Equitable Life. In the 1970s she joined forces with her son, Jojo Smith and was the Executive Director of his dance school, Jojo's Dance Factory, on Broadway.
Anna's devotion to the arts, coupled with her understanding of the importance of continued public awareness of the Katherine Dunham legacy inspired her to launch her own non-profit organization, The Katherine Dunham Council for the Preservation of Cultural Arts, Inc. Under the heading of the The Council and in collaboration with Marta Vega and The Caribbean Cultural Center, Anna was instrumental in organizing the widely attended event honoring Katherine Dunham in the 1980s. Anna was also a major force in the coordination and execution of a collaborative film documentary project featuring Katherine Dunham and the original members of the Company This effort was produced in conjunction with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She was also a member and recording secretary of the Dawson Art Guild honoring Mary Caldwell Dawson and later became a founding member of Classical Productions, directed by Patricia Rogers. Always pursuing higher learning, in her mid-sixties, she became an alumnus of Fordham University.
When not directing, coordinating or masterminding new projects, Anna was a devoted wife, mother, daughter and friend. Anna is vividly remembered for her culinary mastery in which she incorporated the flavors of all her international travels. Many scrumptious meals were created by Anna and enjoyed by her family, friends and associates. During those travels she became conversant in French and Spanish languages.
Anna, the oldest of three children, played a lovely piano, loved to dance and embrace all of the creative arts professionally and privately. Anna had a love affair with life. She lived it fully and passionately and for that she will be remembered fondly by family and friends alike. Anna was intimately known for her deep insights and profound wisdom and she had an ability to infuse those around her with her enthusiasm for life and its many colors.
Anna Margaret Grayson is survived by her husband, Milton, sons Joseph and Robert and daughters, Denise, Yvette and Mignon and numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends.
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