AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES IN DANCE, MUSIC, THEATER, AND FILM

I. Peter Ukpokodu(May 2000)

learning objectives

To consider the ways in which the African American male’s presence/absence has shaped the history of American entertainment

To better understand several entertainment genres & periods influenced by African American males

To recognize some of the major African American male contributors, innovators & institutes in diverse entertainment fields

Ukpokodu’s thesis

“…African American males have contributed immensely to develop, sustain, and enhance the American entertainment enterprise in the areas of dance, theater, film, and music. As a child of two worlds – Africa and America – the African American male has been influenced by the vitality of the American and African cultures and experiences in creating a unique entertainment history.” (133)

entertainment fields

Dance minstrelsy, vaudeville, modern, &

contemporary Music

Spirituals, blues, jazz, & popular music Theater

Early, Harlem Renaissance, Great Depression, Postdepression, Radical, & Recent

Film Pioneers, postwar, & post-1980s

slavery & dance

In some voyages to America, slaves were forced to dance to improvised music as a form of health therapy

Some slaves entertained their masters through dance

Some masters required slaves to dance for other plantations either as a gesture of friendship or as a means of financial gain

minstrelsy Griots – African minstrels, oral

historians, counselors, genealogists, & performers

Blackface minstrelsy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfiNT6AK

G0s

Jim Crow dance Originally performed by a physically

deformed, old African American Eventually imitated by Thomas D. Rice, a

white American performer Master Juba was first African American

blackface performer Irish jig & clog dancing integrated into

black dance to create tap dancing.

vaudeville Minstrelsy & tap dancing were

subsumed by vaudeville by the end of the 19th century.

Williams & Walker popularized the cakewalk starred in In Dahomey, In Abyssinia,

and Bandanna Land. A few other big names: Buck &

Bubbles, Billy Bailey, “Slow Kid” Thompson & Bill “Bojangles” Robinson… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj

CFYpWDmfM

modern & contemporary dance Pioneer of modern dance: Hemsley

Winfield New Negro Art Theatre Dance Group Shuffle Along

“New Negro” philosophy of Harlem Renaissance

The Charleston came into vogue in the 1920s… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s58iT

zznkp0&feature=related Lindy hop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTg5V2oA_hY

Jitterbug http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY5rd

ZdZ_b4

contemporary dance

Post-civil rights era Pan-African cultural events:

Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ‘77) – Lagos, Nigeria

Alvin Ailey became the leader for African American contemporary choreography. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CXk1mQVCgI

A few other big choreographers: Talley Beatty, Donald McKayle, Gus Solomons, Jr.,

& Arthur Mitchell

dance – 80’s and beyond

Breakdance http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=EcUF3vGgwNc

Moonwalking http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=-tqYUTjQIc0

Hip Hop http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=UESGKnY2aYE

music “Musical legacy is perhaps

the most significant African American contribution to the development of American culture and of the entertainment industry.” (136) Spirituals

Ring shouts, Map, & Alert Spirituals

Blues Jazz Popular

R&B, Rock & Rap

spirituals

Began as an expression of Christian religious sentiment during the slavery “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” “Go Tell it on the Mountain”

Ring shouts – ceremonial, ecstatic collective dance

Map spirituals – served as geographical guides for escape “Follow the Drinking Gourd”

Alert Spirituals – served as a warning during secret meetings “I’m Packin Up”

ragtime & blues

Ragtime’s heavy use of syncopation literally changed the beat of a variety of American musical styles Scott Joplin popularized the piano form.

Blues with its expression of the “misery, sorrow, and the vicissitudes of life” offer the performer and listener an “emotional purgation” (136). First blues composition by William

Christopher Handy , 1912, St. Louis Blues. Since, the blues have taken off – and in

several directions.

jazz

Stewart’s & Ukpokodu’s equation: Ragtime + blues + big band +

syncopated dance music + repertory of slave songs = JAZZ

Birthplace: New Orleans A few influential subgenres:

Swing, bebop, cool jazz, West Coast jazz, third stream, hard bop, free jazz, jazz rock/fusion

A few big names: Ellington, Hampton, Baise, Callloway,

Gillespie, Charlie Parker, & Miles Davis.

popular music

Dominant styles: rhythm & blues (R&B)

“earthy & realistic” lyrics roots in boogie-woogie blues, gospel & swing Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson

soul music Expanded R&B Prominent in 60’s & 70’s Often focused on political & social issues

James Brown’s “Say it Loud, I’m Black and Proud” pop solo acts

Hendrix, Prince, Michael Jackson Rap

Originator Afrika Bambaataa Diverse forms ranging from urban to inspirational…

theater -early

Early dramatists before any black theaters existed,

William Wells Brown was writing plays to be performed at public gatherings.

The Escape, or A Leap to Freedom (1858), first published play by an African American

Early theater companies 1912 – Lester Walton formed

Lafayette Theater Stock Players in Harlem

1916 – Karamu Theatre (OH) was an integrated theater

theater – 20s through 40s

1920s Harlem performers & producers , inspired by and inspiring the

New Negro philosophy, created a flourish of productions Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, Galrand Anderson, Willis

Richardson, W.E.B. Dubois (Krigwa Players), Langston Hughes (Mulatto & Mother and Child)

Great Depression Federal Theater Project Harlem Suitcase Theater, Negro People’s Theatre, & New

Negro Theatre Postdepression

Often focused upon expressing the reality of the African American experience

Negro Playwrights Company Theatrical production of Richard Wright’s Native Son

theater – radical

Radical Dramaturgy Exposed the tensions & anger

building in African American community

Major figure: Imamu Amiri Baraka Black Arts Theater The Slave, Dutchman, & The Toilet

Other figures: Ossie David, Adrienne Kennedy, Lonnie Elder III, Douglas Turner

Rituals – a new form of theater combining radical ideology, Christian liturgy, music, dance & life experience

theater – recent

Major works August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences,

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, & The Piano Lesson Other influential playwrights

Charles Fuller, Ron Milner, George C. Wolfe, Bill Gun, Garland Thompson, Lonne Elder III, Steve Carter

Key theater companies The Crossroads Theater, The New Federal Theater,

Negro Ensemble Company

film - early

In early films, African Americans were represented by white actors Infamous example: Griffith’s Birth of a

Nation (1915) Sam Lucas was first African American

to play a lead (Uncle Tom) in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Stereotyped African American roles: the pickaninny, Rastus, Uncle Remus,

Uncle Tom, the tragic mulatto, the mammy, the brutal black, the jesters, and the servants (Bogle 1994)

film – pioneers

Lincoln Motion Picture Company (1916) Founded by George & Noble Johnson Produced films where African Americans were

featured performers 1920’s companies

Renaissance Film Company, Lone Star, Democracy Photoplay Corporation & Micheaux Film & Book Co.

1930’s actors Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Cab Calloway, Paul

Robeson (The Emperor Jones), & Clarence Brooks (Arrowsmith)

postwar film “After World War II, a more tolerant view

of the African American male became visible in films” (142).

Key Figure & Film Sidney Poitier – Guess Who’s Coming to

Dinner Other major early actors

Harry Belafonte, Gordon Parks, Sr. , & Sammy Davis

60’s & 70’s counter-culture: Melvin Van Peeble’s Sweet Sweetback’s

Baadasss Song Gordon Parks, Sr.’s Shaft Gordon Parks, Jr.’s Superfly

Blaxploitation Films

contemporary film

A few of big names Spike Lee Denzel Washington Samuel L. Jackson Richard Pryor Will Smith Martin Lawrence Tyler Perry Eddie Murphy

learning objectives

To consider the ways in which the African American male’s presence/absence has shaped the history of American entertainment

To better understand several entertainment genres & periods influenced by African American males

To recognize some of the major African American male contributors, innovators & institutes in diverse entertainment fields