DNCE 007 Lecture 2: Post Midterm Dance
Document Summary
A racist form of entertainment where actors darken their faces and perform racist stereotypes of black people. Inspired by the music and dances of plantations, but was usually derivative and often melded with other dance styles. Consisted of: opening section where actors would converse in a semi-circle and then end with a walk around finale, olio section consisting of various musical and comedy numbers, afterpiece- a large spectacle performed by the entire cast. Blackface minstrelsy became the most popular form of entertainment in the united. States in the mid-1800s and continued to be until the 20th century (most popular in 19th century) Cakewalk- high stepping movement: slave owners thought it was interesting, called cake walk because prize was a cake. Thomas daddy rice popularized blackface acts with his musical number jump jim. First minstrel group was formed in the 1840s, the virginia minstrels, and they toured the country successfully.
