Jeraldyne Blunden

Jeraldyne Blunden (1940–1999) was the founder and artistic director of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

Jeraldyne Blunden left a permanent mark on the field of contemporary dance by founding the oldest modern dance company in Ohio and inspiring a generation of choreographers and dancers. Her company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, has grown to be one of the largest companies of its kind between Chicago and New York City, and proudly holds the largest repertoire of classic works by African-American choreographers in the world.

Born Jeraldyne Kilborn in Dayton, Ohio on December 10, 1940, Blunden began her dance training at the age of six at the Linden Center, a recreation center in the African-American community of West Dayton. In 1948, a number of African-American mothers approached the Schwarz School of Dance, later to become The Dayton Ballet School, about providing opportunities for their children to enroll in the school.

However, segregation was common in Dayton during the 1940s and The Schwarz School of Dance had not admitted black children due to the possible ramifications to the school. Yet, despite social pressures, the founders of the school, Josephine and Hermene Schwarz, decided to break social boundaries and brought their school to African-American students through the Linden Center.

Throughout Blunden’s dance career, the Schwarz sisters served as her role model and mentor. The sisters helped her gain access to summer scholarships to the American Dance Festival in Connecticut where she studied with dance icons such as Martha Graham, José Limón, George Balanchine, and James Truitte. These teachers later became her colleagues and friends as she followed the pioneering path of the Schwarz sisters, excelling as dancer and director.

At age nineteen, Blunden became the director of dance classes at the Linden Center. Blunden made sure her students were able to gain a broad range of experiences, including summer opportunities and scholarships to attend schools such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the American Dance Festival. Under her leadership, the student population soon outgrew the Linden Center’s capacity and the Schwartz School of Dance had to move to the basement of St. Margaret’s church on McCall and Home Avenues in Dayton.

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