Sections 5, 6, 7, and 8: Creating Contemporary American Identities through Movement

Classroom Activities

• Students present their studies to their peers.
• Through free writing, students respond to the experience of embodying their distinctive American identities.  In writing, they compare and contrast their own movement studies with themes and movements in any of the dances that they have studied: Martha Graham’s American Document, Steps in the Street or Frontier; Pearl Primus’s The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Strange Fruit, Hard Time Blues;  Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s Walking with Pearl.
• Students share their responses in a final discussion.

• 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


• Comment on this module

• VIDEO

• Martha Graham
• Frontier
• Low
•   
• Pearl Primus
• Strange Fruit
• Low, Medium, High
•  
• Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
• Walking with Pearl: African Diary
• Low, Medium, High
•  
• Walking with Pearl: Southern Diary
• Low, Medium, High

  TEXT

• Martha Graham
• I am a Dancer
• American Document
• Pearl Primus
• The Negro Speaks of Rivers
• The Borzoi Book of Modern Dance – New Leaders: Pearl Primus
• My Statement
• African American Concert Dance – The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond
• Strange Fruit
• Hard Time Blues
• Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
• Artistic Influences and Company Development
• Other
• Movement Analysis Worksheet
• "Words for Movement"
• Sklar, D. "Movement Observation Guidelines"
• Siegel, M. (1991). "Rethinking Movement Analysis". Unpublished manuscript used with author's permission (excerpt).