more. Using some ballet vernacular, Dunham incorporates these principles into a set of class exercises she labeled as "processions". Each procession builds on the last and focuses on conditioning the body to prepare for specific exercises that come later. Video footage of Dunham technique classes show a strong emphasis on anatomical alignment, breath, and fluidity. Dancers are frequently instructed to place weight on the balls of their feet, lengthen their lumbar and cervical spines, and breathe from the abdomen and not the chest. There is also a strong emphasis on training dancers in the practices of engaging with polyrhythms by simultaneously moving their upper and lower bodies according to different rhythmic patterns. These exercises prepare the dancers for African social and spiritual dances that are practiced later in the class including the Mahi, Yonvalou, and Congo Paillette. According to Dunham, the development of her technique came out of a need for specialized dancers to support her choreographic visions and a greater yearning for technique that "said the things that [she] wanted to say." Dunham explains that while she admired the narrative quality of ballet technique, she wanted to develop a movement vocabulary that captured the essence of the Afro-Caribbean dancers she worked with during her travels. In a different interview, Dunham describes her technique "as a way of life," a sentiment that seems to be shared by many of her admiring students. Many of Dunham students who attended free public classes in East St. Louis Illinois speak highly about the influence of her open technique classes and artistic presence in the city. Her classes are described as a safe haven for many and some of her students even attribute their success in life to the structure and artistry of her technical institution. Dunham technique is also inviting to the influence of cultural movement languages outside of dance including karate and capoeira. Dunham is still taught at widely recognized dance institutions such as The American Dance Festival and The Ailey School. Social activism The Katherine Dunham Company toured throughout North America in the mid-1940s, performing as well in the racially segregated South. Dunham refused to hold a show in one theater after finding out that the city's black residents had not been allowed to buy tickets for the performance. On another occasion, in October 1944, after getting a rousing standing ovation in Louisville, Kentucky, she told the all-white audience that she