Journal

Copyright © 2010

Much thanks, admiration and credit to Patricia Cohen who introduced me to the fascinating study of jazz dance history and its African American origins.

Early Performances

One black man and one white, in two different cities, performed their dances:

In Louisville, Kentucky, Man A entered the stage, his right shoulder “drawn high up, the left leg stiff and crooked at the knee, giving him…a limp” (Connor, cited in Stearns & Stearns, 1994, p. 40). He shuffled around the stage in a circle. “In windmill fashion, he rolled his body lazily from one side to the other, throwing his weight alternately on the heel of one foot and on the toes of the other” (Nathan, cited in Stearns & Stearns, 1994, p. 41). The man combined flat-footed shuffle steps with the quicker, rhythmic footwork and knee bends of the Jig, and he sang:

“Wheel about, turn about

Do jis so,

An, ebery time I wheel about,

I jump Jim Crow!”

As he sang the last phrase, “I jump Jim Crow,” the man jumped forward towards the audience with a syncopated hop.

In London, Man B performed for the Royal Family. Dressed in a finely-tailored suit with tails, he paraded around the stage for the Prince of Wales’ birthday. His head was held high, his shoulders back, and he presented his chest proudly. He displayed a gentlemanly air as he alternated a debonair strut with his right foot with a high flick kick on the left. His hands were carefully placed: one in a fist at his waist and the other with fingertips poised at the brim of his top hat. Between his strut-and-kick step, he improvised jaunty shuffles.

Man A finished his dance to uproarious applause. At the insistence of the audience, he returned to the stage several times to bow. Then he retired to the dressing room, where he took a piece of cloth and slowly wiped the burnt cork from his blackened face, revealing the whiteness of the skin beneath the makeup.

Man B returned home to New York City after his royal performance and an international tour. He was careful to avoid direct eye contact with white men walking on the street. When he arrived at his hotel, he followed hotel policy, taking the freight elevator up to his room. His black skin was a constant reminder of the racial boundaries he dared not cross.

Thomas “Jim Crow” Rice (Man A) and George Walker (Man B) performed in different decades. However, their diverse experiences as performers clearly reflect some of the racial issues that played out in American musical theatre history. The black stereotyping forwarded by "Jim Crow” and the pride with which George Walker performed illuminate the societies in which they danced. Each man will be studied in this unit.

In order to understand American musical theatre and Broadway dance borne on the American musical theatre stage, it is important to understand the early history of American musical theatre and the contributions of both black and white artists. Throughout musical theatre history, the life of non-white performers on and off stage demonstrated a complex and emotionally charged relationship with whites. Black and white relations in the world of musical theatre reflected common societal prejudices. At the same time, many black artists were able to use careers in musical theater to further personal opportunities and push against the social and civil boundaries that restricted blacks for decades after slavery was abolished.

Musical theatre very much reflected American society’s values and moral codes.

There is a huge gap between America’s ideas of equality and the continued chronicle of “race-based injustice involving slavery, lynching, land seizures, wholesale internment, and, more generally, often scurrilous treatment of immigrant populations” (Knapp, 2005, p. 181).

Pride in European heritage and a belief in European superiority was carried to America first by Columbus and later by the first colonists. From the beginning, non-Europeans were established as inferior “others” and were treated accordingly.

Given the history of poor treatment and feeling towards blacks, it is particularly interesting that African-American music and dance has always held such fascination for whites. African-American music became “American” music through gospel, blues, ragtime and jazz, and it eventually evolved into rock ‘n roll. And African-American dance contributed to jazz dance and Broadway dance, but there was no simultaneous elevation of the population that contributed so greatly to these American art forms.

Although African American dance forms are recognized by dance historians as significant in their contribution to American musical theatre, resources document black and white history in musical theatre separately, with black musical history usually mentioned second. This separation demonstrates yet another example of the not-so-invisible chasm of racial divide in America that continued well into the 20th century.

Following are excerpts from the Library of Congress (1966) listing the types of shows found in America in the 1800s and 1900s. Many of these musical show formats will be examined further in the course.

For larger view of a picture, right click and choose "View Image"

Minstrel Show:

The minstrel show was the most popular form of public amusement in the United States from the 1840s through the 1870s. It virtually ended, in its original form, by 1896… Much humor in later comedy forms originated in minstrelsy and adapted itself to new topics and circumstances.

Variety/Vaudeville:

What eventually became known as vaudeville had its origins in minstrel shows, concert-saloons, and beer gardens. Unlike the minstrel show, which appealed to broad audiences of both sexes, early variety or vaudeville was designed for men only. [The content and costumes were often sexually provocative.]

"Vaudeville" is an American term that dates from the 1840s…used, like "variety," to describe brief, varied acts without a narrative plot, scenario, book, or connecting theme.

A typical vaudeville show offered the audience a little bit of everything in eight to fourteen acts or "turns." The average show had about ten turns and included magic segments, musical numbers (especially solo and duet vocals), dance numbers, combination song-and-dance acts, acrobatics, juggling, comic routines, …animal acts, celebrity cameos, and appearances by criminals, pugilists, and others in the news.

The knowledge that each short act was just one offering in a smorgasbord of material explains much of vaudeville's appeal. Because a bad act might be followed by a stunningly good one, [the audience's] sense of anticipation tended to remain high

Burlesque:

The popular burlesque show of the 1870s through the 1920s referred to a raucous, somewhat bawdy style of variety theater. It was inspired by Lydia Thompson and her troupe, the British Blondes, who first appeared in the United States in the 1860s, and also by early "leg" shows such as "The Black Crook" (1866). Its form, humor, and aesthetic traditions were largely derived from the minstrel show.

Extravaganzas and Spectacles:

Especially popular before the turn of the century, typical extravaganzas were light entertainment in dramatic form and often featured improbable plots and spectacular presentations. Music was generally included.

Spectacular extravaganzas and spectacles can, essentially, be considered early musicals; they represented forms that had not yet fully developed.

Musical revue:

Initially, the musical revue was little more than glorified burlesque, but, when fully realized, it was a unique, dazzling, and popular form. It combined skits, songs, dance numbers, comic routines, and an ensemble of scantily-clad young women…[Costuming] tended to be coordinated with sumptuous, carefully executed set design.

…Thematic coherence and acts created specifically for a particular show made the revue different from other musical entertainments. Usually, variety theater strung together turns (or acts) of material that could be used independently of one another. Different players performed in each of these variety skits. A musical revue, in contrast, used a single cast to perform interconnected skits which incorporated dialogue, sketches (including blackouts), songs, and dance numbers. All these elements were written especially for the revue

Musical comedy:

This type of popular entertainment is composed of a play or narrative story with interpolated songs and dances. The integration of book or libretto with music and dance anticipates later American "musicals." Like the revue, musical comedy employs the same cast throughout the show. Actors usually play the same, specific characters.

The American musical comedy was influenced by the light opera and European operetta popular in the 1890s and 1900s. Like opera and operetta, it tends towards sentimentality and is built around stock characters.