The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography of Pearl Primus

Schwartz, Peggy; Schwartz, Murray

ISBN 10: 0300155344 / ISBN 13: 9780300155341

Published by Yale University Press, 2011

The book is in good condition with all pages and cover intact, including the dust jacket if originally issued. The spine may show light wear. Pages may contain some notes or highlighting, and there might be a "From the library of" label. Boxed set packaging, shrink wrap, or included media like CDs may be missing. Seller Inventory # BSM.YJL6

Synopsis:

Pearl Primus (1919-1994) blazed onto the dance scene in 1943 with stunning works that incorporated social and racial protest into their dance aesthetic. In The Dance Claimed Me, Peggy and Murray Schwartz, friends and colleagues of Primus, offer an intimate perspective on her life and explore her influences on American culture, dance, and education. They trace Primus's path from her childhood in Port of Spain, Trinidad, through her rise as an influential international dancer, an early member of the New Dance Group (whose motto was "Dance is a weapon"), and a pioneer in dance anthropology. Primus traveled extensively in the United States, Europe, Israel, the Caribbean, and Africa, and she played an important role in presenting authentic African dance to American audiences. She engendered controversy in both her private and professional lives, marrying a white Jewish man during a time of segregation and challenging black intellectuals who opposed the "primitive" in her choreography. Her political protests and mixed-race tours in the South triggered an FBI investigation, even as she was celebrated by dance critics and by contemporaries like Langston Hughes. For The Dance Claimed Me, the Schwartzes interviewed more than a hundred of Primus's family members, friends, and fellow artists, as well as other individuals to create a vivid portrayal of a life filled with passion, drama, determination, fearlessness, and brilliance.

About the Author: Peggy Schwartz is former director of the Dance Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Murray M. Schwartz is former Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He teaches literature at Emerson College.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography of Pearl ...
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication Date: 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: good