Artists Respond to Juba
This is a performance-practice site that will explore the responses of contemporary artists to the documents and traditions of minstrelsy. Below are links to eight performative responses as well as a text that discusses the responses.
Minstrels in the Parlour
Gavin Dorrian on Influences
Minstrels & Children: Erica Bledsoe & Jen Johnson
The Mid-Atlantic Minstrel Show
Juba Stage Play
Juba Radio Play
Channeling Juba's Dance: 3 Dancers Explore Juba
UTM Dance Project: Dancers React to Juba
About These Responses
About the Juba Project:
The Juba Project, named after early minstrelsy's most famous and most unusual early practitioner, explores this phenomenon both from a historical and a dramaturgical perspective. White performers in blackface make-up were performing in supposed imitation of American slave culture long before 1842. But in that year these entertainers began appearing together as groups in stand-alone entertainments, minstrel shows. Originating in the north-eastern United States, they almost immediately traveled to Britain, where they were particularly popular.
The main page of the project can be found here: (LINK). It includes a database that will allow you to trace the movements of performers around Britain from 1842-1852 (Search the Database), a closer examination of some of the documents and one group of performers (Featured Performers & Documents -- a good place to start), and information about a book of original essays on minstrelsy's traditions and legacy, edited by Juba Project Director Stephen Johnson (Burnt Cork).
Minstrels in the Parlour
Gavin Dorrian on Influences
Minstrels & Children: Erica Bledsoe & Jen Johnson
The Mid-Atlantic Minstrel Show
Juba Stage Play
Juba Radio Play
Channeling Juba's Dance: 3 Dancers Explore Juba
UTM Dance Project: Dancers React to Juba
About These Responses
About the Juba Project:
The Juba Project, named after early minstrelsy's most famous and most unusual early practitioner, explores this phenomenon both from a historical and a dramaturgical perspective. White performers in blackface make-up were performing in supposed imitation of American slave culture long before 1842. But in that year these entertainers began appearing together as groups in stand-alone entertainments, minstrel shows. Originating in the north-eastern United States, they almost immediately traveled to Britain, where they were particularly popular.
The main page of the project can be found here: (LINK). It includes a database that will allow you to trace the movements of performers around Britain from 1842-1852 (Search the Database), a closer examination of some of the documents and one group of performers (Featured Performers & Documents -- a good place to start), and information about a book of original essays on minstrelsy's traditions and legacy, edited by Juba Project Director Stephen Johnson (Burnt Cork).