Editing Pearl Primus (section)

===Pioneer of African dance in the United States===
Primus' sojourn to West Africa has proven invaluable to students of African dance. She learned more about African dance, its function and meaning than had any other American before her. Primus was known as a [[griot]], the voice of cultures in which dance is embedded.  She was able to codify the technical details of many of the African dances through the notation system she evolved and was also able to view and to salvage some "still existent gems of dances before they faded into general decadence."<ref>Primus, from the Schomburg Library: Primus File, 1949</ref> She has been unselfish in sharing the knowledge she has gained with others.<ref name="genius"/>

The significance of Primus' African research and choreography lies in her presentation of a dance history which embraces ethnic unity, the establishment of an articulate foundation for influencing future practitioners of African dance, the presentation of African dance forms into a disciplined expression, and the enrichment of American theater through the performance of African dance.<ref name="represent"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hering|first=Doris|title=Little Fast Feet: The Story of the Pilgrimage of Pearl Primus to Africa|newspaper=Dance Magazine|year=1950}}</ref>

Additionally, Primus and the late Percival Borde, her husband and partner, conducted research with the Liberian Konama Kende Performing Arts Center to establish a performing arts center, and with a [[Rebekah Harkness]] Foundation grant to organize and direct dance performances in several counties during the period of 1959 to 1962. Primus and Borde taught African dance artists how to make their indigenous dances theatrically entertaining and acceptable to the western world, and also arranged projects between African countries such as Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and the United States Government to bring touring companies to this country.<ref name="jmartin">{{cite book | first = John | last = Martin| title = The New York Times | date = July 31, 1966 }}</ref>