Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
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Minstrel Shows<br />
<strong>The</strong> minstrel show began in the 1830s as a white imitation <strong>of</strong> black plantation and<br />
urban life. White performers would dress in slave or dandy clothes, use burnt cork as<br />
make up for “blackface,” and perform skits, musical numbers, and dances that parodied<br />
the dialogue and music <strong>of</strong> African-Americans through great exaggeration. Even more<br />
popular after the Civil War, minstrelsy was the first organized form <strong>of</strong> “black” musical<br />
theatre. Julian Mates described its importance to American theatre as the “backbone <strong>of</strong><br />
American popular entertainment for over half a century.” 9 Minstrel show elements, such<br />
as the olio mix <strong>of</strong> songs and comedic bits, became pervasive in all forms <strong>of</strong> entertain-<br />
ment. <strong>The</strong> circus and the show boat became expedient means <strong>of</strong> conveying this new<br />
entertainment to every community, even across the frontier. Organized choral groups,<br />
such as the Virginia Minstrels and the New Christy Minstrels, mixed minstrel songs with<br />
spirituals and traditional songs. <strong>The</strong>y traveled across the American continent and became<br />
a sensation in Europe as the first indigenous musical export <strong>of</strong> the United States. 10 Now<br />
considered another racist blight on American cultural history, minstrelsy at this time was<br />
a subversive means <strong>of</strong> presenting societal norms to the white, middle-class audience.<br />
Performers in blackface could behave outside the boundaries <strong>of</strong> “accepted norms to<br />
comment candidly on social, political, and economic conditions.” 11 Actor/dancer Ben<br />
9 Mates, 89.<br />
Burkholder, 677.<br />
10 Several <strong>of</strong> Stephen Foster’s best-loved songs were written for the New Christy Minstrels.<br />
11 Burkholder, 677. “Coon” songs, the standard solo song <strong>of</strong> the minstrel show, became one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
most popular ragtime song genres <strong>of</strong> the early twentieth century. <strong>The</strong>se were sung in black dialect with<br />
ragged rhythms by both white and black performers. Sheet music sales were amazingly successful after<br />
Ernest Hogan’s runaway hit, “All Coons Look Alike to Me” (1886). See Charles Hamm, Yesterdays:<br />
19