Dunham's own revue "Tropical Revue" opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on March 30, 1940.
On March 30, 1940, Katherine Dunham's company opened its own self-produced revue, Tropical Revue, at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York City. Unlike her earlier Broadway appearance as a contributing choreographer in Cabin in the Sky, this production was entirely her own creative vision, showcasing her company's full range of Afro-Caribbean and African diasporic dance.
The revue format allowed Dunham to present a variety of pieces drawn from her anthropological fieldwork in Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad, giving New York audiences an unprecedented look at dances rooted in Caribbean ritual and folk traditions, staged with concert-dance polish.
This production was significant as one of the first instances of a Black-led dance company mounting its own full-length production on Broadway, asserting artistic independence and authorship rather than working within someone else's show. It reinforced Dunham's growing reputation as both a scholar and an artist capable of translating fieldwork into commercially viable, critically acclaimed theater.
Tropical Revue helped solidify the Dunham Company's identity and contributed to the broader visibility of Black dance artists controlling their own narratives and productions in mainstream American theater during a period of pervasive racial segregation and limited opportunities for Black performers.