Dance recital by Afro-Brazilian dancers at Pembroke College

The popular Yankee Traveler columnist Lydia T. Brown recalls a performance by dancers from the University of Brazil at Pembroke College on November 8, 1951. indicates that they “played drums of different sizes, gourds and tamborines,” and provided “dance interpretations of Brazillian folk lore.”

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Dancers from the School of Physical Education of the University of Brazil

Baltimore Afro-American columnist Lydia T. Brown reports in the "Yankee Traveler" on Nov. 10, 1951, that "A new experiment was giving its first United States at Providence on Thursday when some beautiful girl students from the National School of Physical Education of the University of Brazil appeared in a recital at Pembroke College, Brown University." The popular columnist describes the students as "ranging in lovely shades from olive to deep tan," which leads our researchers to believe the students were likely Afro-Brazillian. Little else is known about these dancers, except that there were 10 of them and they were proficient in dance, folklore, and percussive music. --written by Lydia Kelow-Bennett

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Pembroke College, Brown University

While the Women's College affiliated with Brown University was first operational in 1891, it took another six years before the school would grant women students a physical space associated with the campus, known as Pembroke Hall. Erected in 1897, Pembroke Hall was the first of a number of buildings that would serve as the heart of Pembroke College until 1971, when Brown University would include women students in the broader student body. --written by Lydia Kelow-Bennett

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