During the performance of “Strange Fruit” by Pearl Primus, I felt a deep sense of frustration. The performer was continuously and sporadically moving her body across the stage. Even though she was moving through the air and on the floor she was constantly reaching out for something or someone far beyond her grasp. This almost cultivated a sense of longing within me and was only furthered after solely listening to the performance. The constant slapping of her feet and body felt like a cry for help and was filled with desperation, causing me to almost want to reach out and help her. There was a moment in the choreography where I could hear her feet skittering on the floor, almost as if she was reaching to be stable on the ground. This sound really made me uncomfortable, because compared to the slapping it was light and imbalanced. I was really intrigued by how the choreography tried to mimic the monstrous act that lynching is, but also the natural aspects of life that happening around it. The moments where she was mimicking swinging on a tree, and dropping like a “bitter crop” were two particular moments that put into contrast how nature is a bystander and yet its involvement with a lynched corpse then alters the nature around it.
During the performance of “Mourners Bench” by Talley Beatty, I noticed myself leaning forward in my seat as I peered into the dark screen. The spotlight coming up on the lone dancer created a very solitary and singular feeling. The dancers movements were very expressive and intentional in this piece, presenting as a lot less sporadic then “Strange Fruit” and yet there was still immense emotional impact. If I closed my eyes and listened to only the musicality of this performance I found myself sitting very still. The actions that he was performing alongside the music There is a Bomb in Gilead felt very sacred, almost as if they couldn’t be interrupted. The performance invoked the feeling of ritual and sanctity that was only emphasized by the body chosen to perform this piece. By the dancer being a Black man there was a level of politicalizes added to the performance because it definitely means something different to have a Black man sitting on top of the mourners bench than if it was to be a White man.
Work Cited
Primus, Pearl. “Strange Fruit by Pearl Primus.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=38JoSbk3S3o.
Beaty, Talley. “Mourners Bench.” Alexander Street, a ProQuest Company, Southern Landscape, 1947, video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/the-new-dance-group-gala-historical-concert-retrospective-1930s-1970s.