Collection of Early Career Materials
v.p. v.i., 1944. Very Good Condition. Item #50308
V.p.: v.i., 1944-1982. Collection of five pieces of material relating to the career of influential Black dancer and choreographer Pearl Primus (1919-1994). Complete list of contents below. Toning and general wear to margins of poster with small loss at top right-hand corner, rear wrapper of the Dance Observer separated but present; overall a Very Good collection.
Born in Trinidad, Primus and her family emigrated to New York when she was just two years old. After graduating from Hunter College, she auditioned for and joined the New Dance Group under the auspices of the National Youth Administration, an arm of the WPA. During her tenure with the NDG Primus conducted extensive research on African dance and in 1943 premiered her groundbreaking choreography for African Ceremonial, as well as the pieces Strange Fruit and Hard Time Blues. In 1944 she travelled to the South to research the roots of Black American dance, church music, and observe the life of the sharecropping class, from which she drew inspiration for the dances Yanvaloo, The Negro Speaks Rivers, and Slave Market. "Primus's ballets drew attention to social conditions and challenged racism in American society; at the same time they demonstrated that African-American motifs were powerful vehicles for concert dance" (American National Dictionary).
All but one of the following pieces of material date from this remarkable period of creativity in the dancer's life. Contents as follows:
1. Pearl Primus and Company. Original pictorial duo-toned poster (56.5x35.5cm) printed offset on coated card stock. At top edge of illustration is the New York Times critic John Martin's blurb, "the stunning and brilliant artist." Bottom edge provides Primus's exclusive management Charles E. Green, Consolidated Concerts Corporation, 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Berkeley only in OCLC as of October 2026.
2. Original silver gelatin photographic portrait of Pearl Primus (24x16cm) by Gerda Peterich, the basis for the illustration on the poster listed above. Austin Wilder / Artist Management Promotions / 745 Fifth Avenue, New York City rubberstamped to verso with 1947 date in pencil.
3. Mimeographed pictorial program, "Winston-Salem Teachers College Presents Remitha M. Spurlock and Curtis James in Recital Assisted by the College Dance Group." Friday, May 18, 1945, 8:15 P.M., Fries Auditorium. Bifolium (23cm). Dances included Primus's choreography for African [Ceremonial?]; Dance of Thanksgiving; and Afro-Haitian Congo. Rear panel simply reads "Pearl Primus Primitive Technique," above which a former owner has drawn a pencil sketch of the dancer. Not in OCLC.
4. Dance Observer, Vol. 11, no. 2, February, 1944. Upper cover adorned with halftone photographic portrait, also by Gerda Peterich, the contents showcasing Pearl Primus as part of the issue's "Review of the Month": "There is no doubt about it, Pearl Primus is a natural."
5. Caribe, Double Issue, Vol. VII, nos. 1 & 2, ca. 1982. "Special Dance Issue." Also adorned with the same photograph as the Dance Observer. Features Primus's essay "African Dance: Eternity Captured," excerpted from a chapter of her doctoral degree in anthropology: "People who truly dance are those who have never bartered the fierce freedom of their souls, never strangled their hunger for rhythmic movement, nor frustrated their joyous physical response to music and song." Other contributions to the issue included Alain Locke's "Rhythm as a Folk Gift," and Veve Clark's piece on Katherine Dunham, "Dunham's Tropical Review."
Price: $1,800.00