Link to video three of Pearl's Works

Below is a link that shows: Negro Speaks of Rivers, Strange Fruit, and Hard Time Blues
http://acceleratedmotion.wesleyan.edu/primary_sources/video/identities_stage_fruit/stage_fruit.php?vid=stage_fruit_sm&siz=sm

I Care About Pearl!

Pearl Primus is an exquisite piece of African-American history. As an African-American female, I find her story to be extremely inspirational, motivating, and personal to me. Before conducting research on her, I knew nothing about her. Learning about her life's accomplishments is like seeing myself succeeding in accomplishing my own life goals.

Like Pearl, I started formal dance training in my latter years. Seeing how Pearl blossomed in her gift is motivation for me to continue moving forward. Additionally, Pearl was a "jack of all trades" as she was educated in medicine sciences and social sciences. She was trained in Afro-Caribbean dances, as well as ballet and modern. Again, I relate to her as I consider myself well read in many different arenas. Researching her life has given my hope that all things work together for good. She used her life experiences and made them work for her benefit. Pearl's personal stories, beliefs, and values became real life stories on stage through movement.

The life of Pearl Primus should not be ignored because of the great impact her life had in the world of dance. Pearl brought life to African and Caribbean dancing on stage. She was apart of many other black choreographers that helped to show the rich history of movement embedded in the ancestors of African-Americans. Additionally, she meshed that movement with modern and ballet movement, which transcended her dances into another level of passionate dance. Today, more and more dance artists are using different art and movement forms to transform dance. Pearl played a big part in making this transformation come to past by giving dance the gift of African and Caribbean stage influence.

WHY DID PEARL DO WHAT SHE DID?

The core of Pearl's contribution to the dance world was bringing African-American social issues to the forefront by using the art of dance. She put the voice of African-Americans on the stage in an upfront and personal way. Using poems and images of African-American sufferings in the South became a way of conveying the harsh social and political times.

Pearl also contributed the native dances of African-American's descendants to dance in America. Though Katherine Dunham contributed much to African dance movement coming to America, there lies a richness in what Pearl contributes. As she travelled to Africa and the Carribean islands, she continually brought back the cultural dances and rituals of the people. She presented them not as simply sensual and primitive (or savage like) movements. Pearl brought back rich cultural ideas and presented them as a work of art on stages. The content of her work was what made her work important. Pearl was inspired by the roots of her culture, as well as the liberation of her race in America. Rather than simply protested and marching, she took the route of a using dancing as a way to connect to people. Her dancing connecting people to a culture and a cause.

What Was Going On In My World?

Pearl Primus's beginning works were largely influenced by the racism of the times. In the early to mid 20th century, segregation and Jim Crow laws governed the lives of African-Americans and other people of color. Despite the freedom of African-Americans from slavery, there still remained a reconstruction period far beyond the years of the Civil War. More opportunities began to arise for African-Americans, however these successes did not come without backlash from the majority. From lynching to burning churches, this time period put America's social and racial issues to the forefront, particularly those issues related to the segregation of African-Americans. Pearl Primus's work was heavily influenced by the social issues of the times and are quite obvious when seeing works like "Strange Fruit" and "The Negro Speaks Like Rivers."

The 20th century was also a time when Africa was experiencing heavy colonization in some countries, as well as freedoms from colonizations in others. With every freedom from colonization, the African culture was put more in the forefront. Pearl Primus was able to live amongst many different African cultures during this political time and bring a positive image to the American people. The art of African dance was able to be displayed, performed, and received well by audiences because of her work during this time period.

Pearl Primus's style of dance was a style that many artists in modern times could relate to. The stepping away from ballet to modern was obvious by Pearl's teachers (Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Charles Weidman, and Doris Humphrey), however she was moving in a direction similar to Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Pearl was infusing other cultural dances with modern and ballet movement. Pearl, along with Katherine Dunham and others, was looking to give the African and Caribbean cultures a voice and respect in the world of dance. She achieved that goal and her works were created at a time when many artists were stepping out of normal dance traditions.

Her Professional Lineage

Although Pearl Primus did not start off as a dancer in her adult life, she was an athlet She went to Hunter College as a pre-med student majoring in biology. Upon graduation from college, Pearl found a strong interest in dance. She began to work with the National Youth Administration's New Dance Group in New York. In 1943, she made her first offical debut in New York in a piece called the "African Ceremonial." In order to further pursue inspirations for choreography and movement motivated by African-American culture and themes, Pearl took time within the first year of her dancing career to become apart of African-American life in the South. It was in the South that Pearl began to have an experience and connection with everyday movement in the life of southern African-Americans. In addition to being enriched in black southern culture and life, Pearl trained with modern dancers like Martha Graham, Charles Wiedmann, Doris Humprhey, and Hanya Holm.

According to Foley, she then began performing at the Cafe Society Downtown, an integrated nightclub, and in 1944 she gave her first solo recital, performing to poetry and the music of folksinger Josh White. Shortly after this performance, Primus was invited to perform on Broadway. In 1946, Primus appeared in a New York revival of "Showboat," as well as in Louis Gruenberg's opera "The Emperor Jones" at the Chicago Civic Opera.
Other works that are attributed to the success of Pearl Primus include Primus's interpretation of Langston Hughes' "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (1944); "Strange Fruit"(1945), based on the poem by Lewis Allan about a lynching; and "Hard Time Blues" (1945), based on a song about sharecroppers by folksinger Josh White.

She formed her own company and choreographed both group and solo pieces. Primus used her previous pieces and developed ones to further shed light on the social and racial issues of the time. In 1948, Primus was given the opportunity to further her studies with a Rosenwald grant that allowed her to visit Africa to study African dance. She traveled throughout the continent learning traditional dances and rituals. Primus's later work was deeply influenced by her experiences in Nigeria, Zaire, Rwanda, and Ghana. In 1953 Primus returned to Trinidad to study dance there, and met her husband, Percival Borde. In 1958, their son, at the age of 5, joined her dance troupe. In 1979, Borde died.

Primus finished her Masters and Doctoral degrees in Education at New York University in 1959 and 1978, respectively. Using personal, educational and overseas dance experiences, Primus introduced American audiences and dancers to African dance, as well as to African dance traditions. Her performance troupe later formed into the Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute where Primus taught children and adults, and she taught dance, dance education, and ethnic studies at New York University, the Five College Consortium in Amherst, Massachusetts, and other colleges and universities. Though she was heavily involved in the teaching of African-American, African and Caribbean dances, she also incorporated her modern and ballet training in her teaching and work creating an unique blend of dance.

Who is Pearl Primus?

The choreographer and educator Pearl Primus, has been described by Carl Van Vechten as “the grandmother of African-American dance.” Though initially an untrained dancer, Primus became an astounding dancer and choreographer, as her work was characterized by "speed, intensity rhythms, high jumps, and graceful leaps."

Pearl Primus was born in Trindad and played an essential role in bringing African and African people into the faces of American audiences in a postive light. She promoted African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance. She wanted to dismiss the false pretense of Africans being savages. According to Wikipedia, "It was an effort to guide the Western world to view African dance as an important and dignified statement about another way of life. Additionally, her work provided a knowledge and meaning for dances that had been plagued by distortion of movement and excessive hip shaking of the backside."

About the Writer

I am Desiree Cocroft and I am doing research on a dancer named Pearl Primus on this blog site. However, just to give you bloggers a little bit about myself. I am a "jack of all trades" kind of girl. I graduated with my MBA, and upon returning home decided to start a dance company with two friends, Signature Dance Company.

Istarted dancing informally with family members, and later it became more formal for me in the form of taking random technique classes. Most of my classes were based in hip-hop and African. Later, I began to do liturgical or interpretative dance. Within the last five years, I have taken formal training in ballet, modern and African. I am currently a student in UW-Milwaukee's dance program.

I am interest in dance as a way to touch individuals and cause their hearts to be overwhelmed with hope and inspiration. I have a specific interest in reaching the hearts of youth and young adults.