Music: The Minstrel Show

The Minstrel Show. The white actors wore black paste over their faces to depict African Americans. The music mainly featured the banjo and melodic lyric lines that emulated Afro-folk music, using drums as accompaniment. This music had a groove, and its infectious stories helped it become popular. The paradox of a black-faced person represented by the minstrels served a dual purpose: presenting African Americans at a highly cultured event with music the audience identified with, which was the driving force behind its success.

These paradoxes are found throughout modern stage show genres, such as minstrel music and theater. In modern times, events such as Cirque du Soleil are examples of serving a highly cultured crowd, as mentioned in the HBR: “adults and corporate clients who had turned to theater, opera, or ballet and were, therefore, prepared to pay several times more than the price of a conventional circus ticket for an unprecedented entertainment experience.” A similar experience is expected of high-quality comedic entertainment and music. The Cirque du Soleil embraced shock value, which, in some respects, is identical to seeing a black-faced performer perform songs you find pleasant. Although jarring to look at now, these images were entertaining to the culture.

The use of the racial connotations of blackface and the “dance” is found throughout the music. The way the actors gyrated their hips and the energetic tap-dancing routines made the audience find it entertaining as they filled concert halls across the country. A lot can be studied from the Minstrel show. For one, associating “black faces” (looks like the arms as well) with good music can be seen as an homage and possibly a way to relieve racial tensions. I have not delved into the study, but as evidenced by the success of James A. Bland, the Minstrel genre opened doors for black performers, although they did not enjoy the same financial success as their white colleagues.

The Artist James A. Bland was a composer and songwriter for the Minstrel show era of Tin Pan Alley. As a banjo player, he found his way through the music industry by writing catchy tunes for an all-black minstrel company, George Minstrels.

Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2024, June 6). Blue Ocean Strategy. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2004/10/blue-ocean-strategy