PEARL PRIMUS FACT SHEET



Date/Place of Birth
  • Born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in 1919
Background/Training
  • Awarded a scholarship with the New Dance Group in 1941 where she studied various techniques
Performing Highlights
  • Professional debut was at the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City in a concert entitled Five Dancers where she performed her own compositions including Strange Fruit, African Ceremonial, Rock Daniel, and Hard Time Blues
  • Performed at Café Society, a nightclub in Greenwich Village
  • Performed in the Broadway revival of Show Boat (1946)
  • Performed in Ruth Page's revival of Emperor Jones (1947)
Choreographic Highlights
  • Strange Fruit (1943), African Ceremonial (1943), Rock Daniel (1943), Hard Time Blues (1943), and The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1944)
  • Broadway show Caribbean Carnival (1947)
Teaching/Directing/Personal Company Highlights
  • Taught at the New Dance Group
  • Served as Director of the African Arts Center in Monrovia
  • Established a school with her husband and taught around the world
  • Earned a Ph.D from New York University in anthropology