endstream endobj startxref Billie Holiday had already made “Strange Fruit” a hit when she first sang it in 1939. First recorded in 1939, the protest song Strange Fruit came to symbolise the brutality and racism of the practice of lynching in America's South. For more on their “The House I Live In,” please see my Sinatra exhibition blog. Read our guide to using SimplyE. “Strange Fruit” is best known now through the recording by Billie Holiday, who featured the song in her performances at Café Society. Once Primus’ dance career had lifted 0ff, she performed solos, appeared on Broadway, taught many students, was declared one of the best newcomers of the season, and received the national medal of the arts. Featured performances include Strange Fruit, by Dr. Pearl Primus, and Lynchtown, by Charles Weidman, both classic historic works that use dance as a medium for both activism and protest, and also electrifying performance. Pearl Primus frequently stigmatized racism in her choreographies. Additional oral histories and tapes of performance can be found at the Library for the Performing Arts and the Schomburg Center. Primus drew inspiration from many iconic Black works at the time, including the poetry of Langston Hughes, the New Orleans blues, and Holiday’s performance of “Strange Fruit” [14]. An extended interview with Primus, Evening 3 of Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers can be viewed or streamed at The Library for the Performing Arts. Nimbus Dance Works in Pearl Primus's Strange Fruit, 2015 Like the stories of so many of the artists discussed in these essays, Pearl Primus’s 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. %PDF-1.6 %���� 489 0 obj <> endobj In addition, after moving to the south to observe the lifestyle of sharecroppers, she created Hard Time Blues to comment on the hard work they put in daily. She trained under the group's founders, Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow, and William Bates. In 1943, Pearl Primus leaped onto the New York stage of modern dance with her solo debut of “Strange Fruit.” Based on a poem by the same name, written by Lewis Allan and made famous in song by Billie Holiday, Pearl portrayed a White woman in the midst of a mob, who upon leaving the lynching grounds is suddenly gripped by the utter horror of the Black body swaying and the smell of burning flesh. It had only one other performance, in Paris. 'Strange Fruit' (1943) dealt with lynching. She later conducted another work called Strange Fruit, which was used to make a statement about the lynching of African Americans in southern states. Pearl … “Strange Fruit” is best known now through the recording by Billie Holiday, who featured the song in her performances at Café Society. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" -- created, like "Strange Fruit," in … Her dances, notably ‘The Wedding’ (1961), reflect her travels, while ‘Strange Fruit’ … They married, and had one son together who also showed promise as a … from Jessica Moore. Pearl Primus' Strange Fruit Strange Fruit debuted in 1943 & was based on the poem by Lewis Allan about a lynching. The Library for the Performing Arts’s exhibition on political cabaret focuses on the three series associated with Isaiah Sheffer, whose Papers are in the Billy Rose Theatre Division. Political cabaret became popular at the end of the decade, created by writers, songwriters, comics, musicians and dancers, many of whom were veterans of Federal Theatre Project companies. Pearl Primus. endstream endobj 490 0 obj <>/Metadata 59 0 R/OCProperties<>/OCGs[501 0 R]>>/Outlines 81 0 R/PageLayout/SinglePage/Pages 485 0 R/StructTreeRoot 108 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 491 0 obj <>/Font<>/Properties<>/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 492 0 obj <>stream i do not claim to own any rights for any material included in this video. J z700�5;0�9p�l=*���}兇7��f�fN��������$L���f�h�:L�5���갋�g�=OmM4 �hrH�^����� B @�����A���1�����" % �t�!��L � �|`�00\d���Ÿ�I�I���L����j��^�Ҍ�P���������Y[~�@�*F � �Iy Pearl Primus, trained in Anthropology and at NY’s 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 92nd St. YMHA. Submitted by Debra Elfenbein (not verified) on September 1, 2016 - 9:52am, Submitted by Barbara (not verified) on October 24, 2016 - 9:21am. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. information see, Please correct misspelling to ABEL Meeropol--it's not "Abner"! Pearl Primus was born in Trinidad on November 29th, 1919, before her parents immigrated to Harlem. In 1951 while on tour in Chile, Katherine Dunham premiered Southland, on the … 'Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore' (1979) was a response to the 1963 racist bomb attack against the Baptist Church on the 16th Street which killed four young Afro-American girls. Strange Fruit | Pearl Primus (1943) The classic work by the iconic Trinidadian-American dancer Pearl Primus who’s solo explore the horror of lynching in the Southern United States in the pre-civil rights era. The dancers’ movements show both anxiety and outright shock, but is this character meant to be solely an object of sympathy? Patrons who contribute comments are asked to read our Policy on Patron-Generated Web Content. Jawole Willa Jo Zollar; 6.) Choreographer: Jessica Moore Spring 2012 Conder Elementary School, Columbia, SC Performers: Dance 3 students from Blythewood High School. Pearl Primus’s Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues. Her Trinidadian heritage, combined with extensive studies in the Caribbean, Africa and the American South, became the lens through which she taught and choreographed. Click to learn about accessibility at the Library, View all posts by Barbara Cohen-Stratyner, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, Schomburg Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center. A Take Away. Eventually Primus formed her own dance troupe which toured the nation. I am researching her choreographic work Strange Fruit (1943) as an important contribution to concert dance My research motivation comes from addressing the dearth of black expression in concert dance. Pearl Primus, American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and teacher whose performance work drew on the African American experience and on her research in Africa and the Caribbean. In 1953 Primus returned to Trinidad to study dance there, and met her husband, Percival Borde. In its 15th season, Nimbus is led by founding Artistic Director Samuel Pott, acclaimed choreographer and former soloist dancer of the Martha Graham Dance Company. 508 0 obj <>stream Yes, I have danced about lynchings, protested in dance against Jim Crow cars and systems which created sharecropping. Pearl Primus, trained in Anthropology and at NY’s 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 92 nd St. YMHA. Pearl Primus’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers; 3.) Two important venues from those years were the TAC Cabaret (at the Firehouse) and Barney Josephson's Cafe Society. patron, not necessarily those of The New York Public Library. h�bbd``b`���@�*��$��@�7H4U �} �%@´������b``�M�g�� � �� Primus began her formal study of dance with the New Dance Group in 1941, she was the group's first black student. Pearl Primus : biography November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994 Career Primus began to research African dance, “consulting books, articles, and pictures and visiting museums’. 'Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore' (1979) was a response to the 1963 racist bomb attack against the Baptist Church on the 16th Street which killed four young Afro-American girls. 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 on Strange Fruit, Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers: Pearl Primus, April 29th, 1983
. Confronting stereotypes and prejudice through movement, she advocated dance as a … In 1943, Primus performed Strange Fruit. The most famous and memorable song from New York pre-WWII political cabaret scene was Lewis Allan’s anti-lynching anthem, “Strange Fruit,” which has been recognized as one of the most influential American song. The first three works are among her most famous. Permission to remount the work was granted by entrusted Primus dance company member, Mary Waithe, resident in Barbados. This blog, and the Political Cabaret exhibition, was informed by research by the Performing Arts Museum's summer interns:  Brittany Camacho, Colorado College, and Kameshia Shepherd, Bank Street College of Education, Program in Museum Education. Strange Fruit. 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. The solo has been reconstructed and can be seen on Free to Dance, in performance from the American Dance Festival and John F. Kennedy Center, 2000, on *MGZIDVD 5-3178. 'Strange Fruit' (1943) dealt with lynching. Through this organization, Primus not only gained a foundation for her contemporary technique, but she learned about artistic activism. If you don’t have an NYPL library card, New York State residents can apply for a digital card online or through SimplyE (available on the App Store or Google Play). Pearl worked at the New Dance Group Studios, where she trained alongside white people. After six months, she had completed her first composition, African Ceremonial. For more Pearl Primus’ Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues; 5.) It begins with a section introducing the genre from its 1930s-1940s roots in New York, with songs, sketch comedy, and dance artifacts, also  based in LPA’s archival collections. “Instead of growing twisted like a gnarled tree inside myself, I am able to dance out my anger and my frustrations. Primus made abstract dances (Margaret Lloyd mentions some of these, including Trio and Study in Nothing) and dances that dealt with African-American experience and racial oppression such as Strange Fruit (1943), The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1944), and Hard Time Blues (1945). In Strange Fruit, Primus boldly played the role of a white woman at a lynching. 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." Pearl became the first black modern dancer, having performed her first performance, Strange Fruit. 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