Sections 3 and 4: Whose America Is It? Protest and Revolt

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Pearl Primus’s Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues

Primus was a member of the New Dance Group where she was encouraged by its socially and politically active members to develop her early solo dances dealing with the plight of African Americans in the face of racism. 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). Hard Time Blues (1945) comments on the poverty of African American sharecroppers in the South.

Classroom Activities

• Ask students what they found out about African American experiences during the 1940s.
• Watch Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues. 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. light/strong, fast/slow, direct/indirect?
  • How does Primus express themes of social commentary and protest in her work? What gestures does she use?  How do the movement elements support the meanings of these dances?
  Student observations might be furthered through discussion or used as part of a writing exercise.

Discussion Questions

• What do Primus’s dances tell us about 1940s America?  Comment on the irony of Americans fighting to liberate Europeans during World War II, while racism continued in America.
• Can you think of examples of social commentary and protest as reflected in popular culture today, for example, in music, videos, movies?
• Can you isolate and describe the differences between Primus’s and Graham’s dance expressions of social commentary and protest themes?

Movement Experience

Set up a movement experience that allows students to explore gestures and movement qualities present in Primus’s work and that students might relate to contemporary protest. This might be done through a technique class, improvisation, or dance making experiences.

Assignment

Pearl Primus

• Bring in examples of artists today who use details from their lives—their experiences, their travels, their personal relationships—as inspiration for the creation of their music, visual art, literature and poetry, or dance.
• Research American literature that reflects themes of social and political protest.  Poetry is a good choice to focus on since that is the literary form Primus drew upon to inspire several of her dances. Students will be making their own dances in a later classroom activity and might include excerpts from these writings.
• Read John Perpener’s article on Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.

• Start
• Primary Sources
• Introduction
• 1.) Martha Graham’s Frontier
• 2.) Pearl Primus’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers
• 3.) Martha Graham’s Steps in the Streets
• 4.) Pearl Primus’ Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues
• 5.) Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
• 6.) Martha Graham’s American Document
• 7.) Creating Contemporary American Identities through Movement
• 8.) Creating Contemporary American Identities through Movement


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