She often recounted how she had been taught Impinyuzaduring her travels in Africa, after being declared a man by the royal monarch of the Watusi people. Ask students to observe with the following in mind: What movement elements do you see in the dances: spatial patterns (for example, straight line, circular, rectangular, lines at right angles), body shapes, and different movement qualities, i.e. In 1944, Dunham opened her dance school and taught students not only tap and ballet, but dance forms of the African Diaspora and percussion. She was a fledgling artist during the 1960s, when the Black Arts Movement was coming into its own in America, with its message of using art to increase self-representation, self-determination, and empowerment among people of color. Strange Fruit Pearl Primus was an.. anthropologist like Katherine Dunham and her research was funded by the Rosenwald Foundation when she went to Africa to study dances of the African Diaspora What was the dance Strange Fruit about? Soon after she began studying at the New Dance Group, Primus started to choreograph her own works and distinguish herself as a compelling solo performer with a distinctively visceral approach to movement that was full of explosive energy and emotional intensity. No doubt, Schwartz chose Zollar for the Primus project because she recognized their similar histories of cultural discovery through dance. Her efforts were also subsidized by the United States government who encouraged African-American artistic endeavors. All Rights Reserved. Pearl Eileen Primus (1919 -1994) was a dancer, choreographer and anthropologist who played an important role in the presentation of African dance to audiences outside African culture. Zollars first project involving the legacy of Pearl Primus inspired her to continue in that direction, and she choreographed a lengthier work using the same title, Walking with Pearl. After her field research, Primus was able to establish new choreography while continuously developing some of her former innovative works. These pieces were rooted in Primus experience with black southern culture. [30], Primus believed in sound research. Lewis, Femi. She also taught at New York's Hunter College. She mastered dances like the war dance Bushasche, and Fanga which were common to African cultural life. Pearl Primus continued to teach, choreograph, and perform dances that spoke of the human struggle and of the African American struggle in a world of racism. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Primus explored African culture and dance by consulting family, books, articles, pictures, and museums. Pearl Primus was the first Black modern dancer. %%EOF One of her strongest influences during her early search for aesthetic direction was her intense interest in her African-diaspora heritage; this became a source of artistic inspiration that she would draw on throughout her entire career. Eventually Primus formed her own dance troupe which toured the nation. Primus married the dancer, drummer, and choreographer Percival Borde in 1961,[29] and began a collaboration that ended only with his death in 1979. I dance not to entertain, she once said, but to help people to better understand each other. Some four decades after her Pillow debut, she returned to lecture and participate in a special African Music and Dance project. This thoroughly researched composition was presented along with Strange Fruit, Rock Daniel, and Hard Time Blues, at her debut performance on February 14, 1943, at the 92nd Street YMHA. Biographers Peggy and Murray Schwartz point out how Fangabecame a dance that was often the central focus in her lecturing and teaching after she returned from Africa. The choreography for this piece, which was made in protest of sharecropping, truly represented Primus movement style. Strange Fruit (1945), a piece in which a woman reflects on witnessing a lynching, used the poem by the same name by Abel Meeropol (publishing as Lewis Allan). [25], Pearl fused spirituals, jazz and blues and then coupling these music forms with the literacy works of black writers, Primus' choreographic voice though strong resonated primarily for and to the black community. She later taught it to her husband, who performed it as his signature piece until his death, in 1990, and it was also performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1990. She later included it in her performances at Barney Josephsons jazz club/cabaret Caf Society, which this photograph promoted. She began a life-long study of African and African-American material in the 1940s, and developed a repertory of dances emphasizing the rich variety of African diasporic traditions. In their book, the Schwartzs include a program note from a 1951 performance of Fangain New York City. She was able to codify the technical details of many of the African dances through the notation system she evolved and was also able to view and to salvage some "still existent gems of dances before they faded into general decadence. Pearl Primus, trained in Anthropology and at NYs left-wing New Dance Group Studio, chose to use the lyrics only (without music) as a narrative for her choreography which debuted at her first recital, February 1943, at the 92ndSt. YMHA. When she returned to the United States, she continued her efforts to maintain a company and a school that would forward her artistic vision. She spoke up through dance about what was happening to other African Americans at the time (as a woman, too) and had a powerful political voice that could've gotten her killed as well. http://www.artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=179. They were artistic innovators against poverty, fascism, hunger, racism and the manifold injustices of their time. CloseThe New Dance Group Gala Concert, p. 6. Explore a growing selection of specially themed Playlists, curated by Director of Preservation NortonOwen. [1], The significance of Primus' African research and choreography lies in her presentation of a dance history which embraces ethnic unity, the establishment of an articulate foundation for influencing future practitioners of African dance, the presentation of African dance forms into a disciplined expression, and the enrichment of American theater through the performance of African dance. "The dance begins as the last person begins to leave the lynching ground and the horror of what she has seen grips her, and she has to do a smooth, fast roll away from that burning flesh. At that time, Primus' African choreography could be termed interpretive, based on the research she conducted and her perception of her findings. "[11] John Martin admired her stage presence, energy, and technique. She went on to study for a Ph.D. and did research on dance in Africa, spending three years on the continent learning dances. J z7005;09pl=*}7ffN$Lfh:L5g=OmM4 hrH^ B @A1" % t!L |`00\dIILj^PY[~@*F Iy But that is still no excuse for her behavior, and for ignoring what has happened because its easier. (1919-1994) Pearl Primus was born in Trinidad and grew up in New York. At that time, Primus' African choreography could be termed interpretive, based on the research she conducted and her perception of her findings. Poetry is a good choice to focus on since that is the literary form Primus drew upon to inspire several of her dances. In an interview from. A dancer, choreographer, and proselytizer for African dance, Pearl Primus (1919-1994) trained at the New Dance Group and worked with Asadata Dafora. The poem was later popularized as a song sung most memorably by Billie Holiday, Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norn, Dr. Pearl Primus (1919-1994) was a dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. Primus had studied and performed with McBurnie when the older woman was in New York City during the early 1940s, so Primuss research trip gave them an opportunity to reconnect. [13] These similarities show that Primus style, themes, and body type promoted the display of Black culture within the dance community. When analyzing the dance, one can see that the performer is portraying a female character's reaction after witnessing a lynching. She developed a growing awareness that people of different cultures performed dances that were deeply rooted in many aspects of their lives. Micaela Taylor's TL Collective, Urban Bush Women, Collage Dance Collective, Joseph Wiggan, Josette Wiggan-Freund +16others, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Compaa Irene Rodrguez, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Jessica Lang Dance +12others. She does it repeatedly, from one side of the stage, then the other, apparently unaware of the involuntary gasps from the audience The dance is a protest against sharecropping. During the early 20th Century, Black dancers such as Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus used their backgrounds as dancers and their interest in learning their cultural heritage to create modern dance techniques. How do the movement elements support the meanings of these dances? Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo, California State University - Los Angeles, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, California State University, Channel Islands, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Federal University Of Agriculture Abeokuta, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico San German campus, Keiser University - Latin American Campus, London School of Economics and Political Science, California State University of Sacramento, Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, University of North Carolina - Wilmington, University of South Florida - St. Petersburg, William Paterson University of New Jersey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ1CLB0Okug. "Strange Fruit"-- Choreography by Pearl Primus; Performance by Dawn The movements she makes both towards and away from the body shows her struggle with facing the reality of the situation, of both her own actions, and the truth of the world she has lived in till now. Included were Dance of the Fanti Fishermen, from Nigeria and Benis Womens War Dance, and the last dance of that section was Fanga, CloseProgram, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Ninth Season, 1950.a Liberian dance of welcome that became an iconic piece in her repertoire. Many viewers wondered about the race of the anguished woman, but Primus declared that the woman was a member of the lynch mob. She also staged The Wedding created in 1961. Primus' 1943 work 'Strange Fruit' leaped over the boundaries of what was then considered 'black dance', "The Borzoi Book of Modern Dance - PDF Free Download", https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLSR-V3TM, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLS5-YS1P, "Pearl Primus Is Dead at 74; A Pioneer of Modern Dance", Picture of Pearl Primus in Folk Dance (1945), Archive footage of Primus performing Spirituals in 1950 at Jacob's Pillow, "Pearl Primus rejoices in the Black tradition", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pearl_Primus&oldid=1151870198, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni, United States National Medal of Arts recipients, Trinidad and Tobago people of Ghanaian descent, Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States, Trinidad and Tobago people of Ashanti descent, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 19:27. Billie Holiday x Pearl Primus - Strange Fruit (Music Video) . CloseNorton Owen, A Certain Place: The Jacobs Pillow Story (Lee, MA: Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, 2002), p. 11.Everything in Shawns background indicates that he would have enthusiastically followed this type of programming that ranged far and wide among the dance expressions of the world. [13] Primus extensive field studies in the South and in Africa was also a key resource for her. She refuses to face reality. Psychology Undergrad Major at Kutztown University. When Primus returned to America, she took the knowledge she gained in Africa and staged pieces for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. But her decision becomes clear as the dancer runs in a circle, both signifying her confusion and her final return to what she knows best upon its completion. "Strange Fruit"-- Choreography by Pearl Primus; Performance by Dawn Marie Watson. Disclaimer: This is the video this article talks about. She posed as a migrant worker with the aim "to know [her] own people where they are suffering the most. Compare: Can you isolate and describe the differences between Primuss and Grahams dance expressions of social commentary and protest themes? CloseJohn Martin, The Dance: Five Artists, New York Times, February 21, 1943, Sec. In this performance, Dunham introduced audiences to a dance called Lagya, based on a dance developed by enslaved Africans ready to revolt against society. It was an effort to guide the Western world to view African dance as an important and dignified statement about another way of life. This blog, and the Political Cabaret exhibition,was informed byresearch by the Performing Arts Museum's summer interns: Brittany Camacho, Colorado College, and Kameshia Shepherd, Bank Street College of Education, Program in Museum Education. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Primuss promise as a dancer was recognized quickly, and she received a scholarship from the National Youth Associations New Dance Group in 1941. Instead of growing twisted like a gnarled tree inside myself, I am able to dance out my anger and my frustrations. Her parents, Edward and Emily Primus, immigrated to the United States in 1921 when Pearl was still a small child. She later wrote: The dance begins as the last person begins to leave the lynching ground and the horror of what she has seen grips her, and she has to do a smooth, fast roll away from that burning flesh. Pearl Primus onStrange Fruit,Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers: Pearl Primus, April 29th, 1983. CloseWalter Terry, Dance World: Hunting Jungle Rhythm, New York Herald Tribune, January 15, 1950, Sec. Author Norton Owen notes that Shawn credited the practice of putting diverse dance offerings on a single concert to Mary Washington Ball. Strange Fruit is best known now through the recording by Billie Holiday, who featured the song in her performances at Caf Society. Browse the full collection of Jacobs Pillow Dance Interactive videos by Artist, Genre, and Era. She had not yet undertaken fieldwork on the continent of Africa, but based on information she could gather from books, photographs, and films, and on her consultations with native African students in New York City, she had begun to explore the dance language of African cultures. Beginning in 1928 and continuing over the next two decades, European-American artist Helen Tamiris explored the African-American folk music in several dances that comprised her suite, Negro Spirituals. 489 0 obj <> endobj Early in her career she saw the need to promote African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance. The dance performance, Strange Fruit, choreographed by Pearl Primus, depicts a white woman reacting in horror at the lynching which she both participated in and watched. Pearl Primus (1919-1994) - BlackPast.org The second timeJuly 21 and 22, 1950she had returned from Africa several months earlier. http://acceleratedmotion.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stage_fruit_lg.flv Additional oral histories and tapes of performance can be found at the Library for the Performing Arts and the Schomburg Center. DAN 166 - Exam 3 Flashcards | Quizlet Primus work continued to push boundaries as she re-developed another one of her debut pieces, Hard Time Blues (1945). For what kind of human being could possibly do such evil? ThoughtCo. Pearl Primus, (born November 29, 1919, Port of Spain, Trinidaddied October 29, 1994, New Rochelle, New York, U.S.), American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and teacher whose performance work drew on the African American experience and on her research in Africa and the Caribbean. She also appeared at the Chicago Theatre in the 1947 revival of the Emperor Jones in the "Witch Doctor" role that Hemsley Winfield made famous. As we have seen, Primus began following that path in the early 1940s, at the very beginning of her career. Another connection between the two artists was their unswerving commitment to use their creative endeavors in the name of social and political change. In 1958, he established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. At the Pillow, she performed Dance of Beauty, with a program note stating, In the hills of the Belgian Congo lives a tribe of seven foot people. Primus continued to study anthropology and researched dance in Africa and its Diaspora. After gaining much praise, Primus next performances began in April 1943, as an entertainer at the famous racially integrated night club, Cafe Society Downtown. In 1952, she led a group of female students on a research trip to her home island of Trinidad, where she met Percival Borde, a talented dancer and drummer who was performing with Beryl McBurnies Little Caribe Theatre. Throughout her career, Primus used her craft to express social ills in United States society. Primus' sojourn to West Africa has proven invaluable to students of African dance. Soon after her Pillow debut in 1947, Primus spent a year in Africa documenting dances. She gained a lot of information from her family who enlightened her about their West Indian roots and African lineage. after Primus first performed Strange Fruit in 1943, with the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till proving a catalyst for a massive reduction . She also opened a dance school in Harlem to train younger performers. Primus chose to create the abstract, modern dance in the character of a white woman, part of the crowd that had watched the lynching. American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist (19191994), Pioneer of African dance in the United States, Primus, from the Schomburg Library: Primus File, 1949, "New York, New York City Marriage Licenses Index, 1950-1995," database, FamilySearch (, "(Up)Staging the Primitive: Pearl Primus and 'the Negro Problem' in American Dance", "The New Dance Group: Transforming Individuals and Community", "THE DANCE: FIVE ARTISTS; Second Annual Joint Recital Project of the Y.M.H.A. [7] The organization trained dancers like Primus to be aware of the political and social climate of their time. But in reality, this capability for both decency and the terrible, for both empathy and forced apathy, is incredibly human. She also choreographed Broadway musicals and the dances in O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones (1947). John O. Perpener III is a dance historian and independent scholar based in Charlotte, NC. In 1979, Percival Borde passed away. But instead she decided to conduct an 18-month research and study tour of the Gold Coast, Angola, Cameroons, Liberia, Senegal and the Belgian Congo. Although born in Trinidad, she made an impact in many sections of the world. Primus was known as a griot, the voice of cultures in which dance is embedded. In 1979, she and her husband Percival Borde, who she met during her research in Trinidad, founded the Pearl Primus "Dance Language Institute" in New Rochelle, New York, where they offered classes that blended African-American, Caribbean, and African dance forms with modern dance and ballet techniques. . . PEARL PRIMUS - Blogger When Pearl Primus performed at Jacobs Pillow for the first time on August 16, 1947, she was in the early stages of establishing her career as an important theatrical concert dancer on the American contemporary dance scene. In showing the humanity of the otherwise monstrous lynchers, she shows the tension-filled situation in the South. Music by Billie Holiday Choreography by Pearl PrimusEditing by Brian LeungUW Dance 101 When she was three years old, her family had moved from the island of Trinidad and resettled in New York City, but her relatives kept the memories of their West Indian roots and their African lineage alive for her, distilling them into stories that transmitted a sense of cultural and historical heritage to the young girl. 508 0 obj <>stream Early in her career she saw the need to promote African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance. In her program she also presented Three Spirituals entitled "Motherless Child", "Goin to tell God all my Trouble", and "In the Great Gettin-up Mornin." As with other programs at the Pillow, the July 1950 concert was composed of artists with different stylistic and aesthetic approaches to dance. hb```,lS@(LL The repeal of Prohibition brought new or re-opened spaces where audiences could enjoy theater, dance or music while purchasing legal drinks for those who, in the Depression,could afford them. In 1984, Primus taught the dance to students of the Five College Dance Department, where Peggy Schwartz was the director. Ailey began his career as a dancer at the age of 22 when he became a dancer with the Lester HortonCompany. The program consisted of an excerpt from Statement, and Negro Speaks of Rivers, Strange Fruit, and Hard Time Blues. Pearl Primus's Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues Ted Shawn and his Men dancers presented their Negro Spirituals on tour and in New York City performances during the 1930s; a program dated August 18, 1934 indicates that Ted Shawn and his company performed Three Negro Spirituals at a benefit concert for the Long Ridge Methodist Episcopal Church in Danbury, Connecticut. Pearl Primus A dancer, choreographer, and proselytizer for African dance, Pearl Primus (1919-1994) trained at the New Dance Group and worked with Asadata Dafora. In 1943, Primus performed Strange Fruit. Early in her career she saw the need to promote African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance. Over the decades, Primuss involvement with Jacobs Pillow continued, but instead of focusing on her own performance abilities that had stunned audiences during earlier years, she turned her attention to others. endstream endobj startxref The New York Public Library. She also choreographed dances that contained messages about racism and discrimination. Courtesy Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Behring Center, Smithsonian Institution, African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. The concert Primus appeared on included balletexcerpts from Les Sylphides and Auroras Weddingand four modern dances by Iris Mabry. She had recognized that they were a part of her cultural heritage, and she made them the centerpiece of her dance aesthetic. From the start of the performance, the dancer already displays contortions of anguish and panic. This is why she is not an entirely sympathetic character. Internationally famous choreographer, dancer, anthropologist, Dr. Pearl Eileen Primus (1919-1994) was hailed by critics as one of the United States most spectacular dancers. Her interpretation of Black Heritage through the medium of dance was regarded as being without peer this of the Atlantic. Read more here: , Choreography: Physical Design for the Stage, Disability & Dance Research Circle Project, When Dancers Talk: Research Circle Project. [13] With an enlarged range of interest, Primus began to conduct some field studies. This piece served as an introduction to her swelling interest in Black heritage. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. He described her as a remarkable and distinguished artist. She made sure to preserve the traditional forms of expression that she observed. The musical also featured early Black American forms of dance such as the Cakewalk and Juba. Primus was at a point in her career where the momentum of her early years continued to develop, and she widened her horizons as a performer and a choreographer. Pearl Primus | Biography, Dance, & Facts | Britannica 'Strange Fruit' (1943) dealt with lynching. Moreover, she developed an overarching interest in the cultural connections between dance and the lives of the descendants of African slaves who had been taken to widespread parts of the world. As an artist/ educator, Primus taught at a number of universities during her career including NYU, Hunter College, the State University of New York at Purchase, the College of New Rochelle, Iona College, the State University of New York at Buffalo, Howard University, the Five Colleges consortium in Massachusetts. Like the stories of so many of the artists discussed in these essays, Pearl Primuss story recounts the many paths she took on her way to accomplish her artistic vision, a vision that included her love of performing, her commitment to social and political change, and her desire to pass her knowledge and her artistry on to later generations. Conclusion In conclusion, Strange Fruit is a major contribution to the world because it humanized black people, told real black stories, and helped legitimize black concert dance. Primus lectured widely and taught courses in anthropology and ethnic dance on many college campuses including the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Receive a monthly email with new and featured Jacobs Pillow Dance Interactive videos, curated by Director of Preservation Norton Owen. Dr. Pearl Primus - Choreography: Physical Design for the Stage The dance performance, Strange Fruit, choreographed by Pearl Primus, depicts a white woman reacting in horror at the lynching which she both participated in and watched. light/strong, fast/slow, direct/indirect? Created in 1945 by Pearl primus, this solo is choreography on a song referring to the sharecroppers and interprets by the singer of folksong Josh White. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Her Campus may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. [8] Amongst these influencers, Dafora's influence on Primus has been largely ignored by historians and unmentioned by Primus. This text can be changed from the Miscellaneous section of the settings page. She puts this tragedy to the back of her mind, allowing herself to conform to the terrifying side of southern society.