COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Pearl Movement Company is a developing dance company led by Pearl Young dedicated to creating lifelong learning opportunities through the preservation and appreciation of Black culture through movement. After founding Harlem Grooves Dance Company at Tufts University dedicated to Black American dance styles, Pearl Young decided to extend her passion and dance community through teaching public classes, hosting accessible movement programming, and creating compelling choreographic productions.
Pearl Movement Company encourages artists and students to appreciate and learn from each stage of their artist journey in order to move forward and further polish their craft, similar to the process of a growing pearl.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My choreography and goals as a dancer revolve around creating space for and demanding attention toward Black American styles. Growing up dancing in predominantly white competitive studios disjointed my identities as a Black woman and as a dancer based on the priorities of the studio. When my grandmother would take me to Alvin Ailey shows each winter, I couldn’t help but dream of myself dancing with and for those that looked like me. When I began choreographing dances in high school I dedicated my choreography to representing the Black community's journeys through social injustice had the honor of receiving the rights to perform Pearl Primus’s “Strange Fruit”, taught by Kim Bears-Bailey of Philadanco, as my culminating piece to my senior thesis on the role of dance in the civil rights movement.
Continuing with my prioritization of making space for my intersectional identity, in 2019, I founded Harlem Grooves at Tufts University — a dance company dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of Black American styles. Despite Tufts’ vast range of dance groups, there was a lack in representation of modern, jazz, hiphop and swing as well as the lack of a welcoming space for dancers without prior dance experience. Harlem Grooves has now served over 50 dancers by providing peer-led dance training and choreography opportunities.
I am currently working to launch Pearl Movement as a professional dance company specializing in Black dance styles, providing movement-based community programming, and sharing stories of Black culture through movement.
As a lifelong dancer and experienced human development researcher, I have a uniquely effective approach to supporting the whole student. I utilize my compassionate and methodical nature to survey communities’ needs and subsequently serve to realize under-leveraged opportunities.
I am grateful to continue to contribute to the Greater Boston artistic community through workshop facilitation at community events, hosting open adult dance classes, and leading dance education at local schools.
BIO
Pearl Young is the founder of Pearl Movement, a company committed to uplifting Black dance styles and creating contemporary opportunities for lifelong learning. Pearl has spent 20 years of her life studying various styles and learning more about her personal identity through movement; Pearl has training in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, Afro-Hatian, step and modern techniques (including Horton, Primus, Dunham, Cunningham, Limón, and Graham). In 2018, Pearl received the rights to perform Pearl Primus’s “Strange Fruit”, taught by Kim Bears-Bailey of Philadanco, as her culminating piece to her senior thesis at The Taft School. In May of 2022, Pearl graduated from Tufts University with her Bachelor of Science–Magna Cum Laude– and was the recipient of the Alice E. Trexler Dance Studies award for the Class of 2022 for her “demonstrated excellence in creative work in dance courses”. While at Tufts, Pearl founded Harlem Grooves, a collegiate dance company dedicated to Black American dance, and she was the lead choreographer for Tufts’ 2022 production of “Almanac: The Musical”.
In the remainder of 2022, Pearl reset her piece “Rain in the Ravine” for OnStage 360; she organized and performed at We Move: Black Joy At Tufts; she danced and choreographed for Urbanity’s Creative Class; and she was accepted as a Midday Movement Series BIPOC Professional Mentee. In 2023, Pearl has choreographed a production of “Matilda” at The Park School in Brookline, a production of “Red Rainbow” at Tufts University, and a step performance for Northeastern’s Stepfest Competition with members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.. She was also invited to facilitate a movement workshop at Tufts’ Black Women’s Empowerment Conference. Pearl currently teaches for Jean Appolon Expressions in Cambridge schools and will be leading public dance programming this summer with the Design Studio for Social Intervention and the Cambridge Community Arts Center.