Master Juba

Dancer and entertainer

• Born: c. 1825
• Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island
• Died: c. 1852
• Place of death: London, England

Juba was the first African American to appear regularly in a minstrel show company and paved the way for African Americans to perform authentic songs, dances, and music in the shows. With his exceptional ability as a dancer and his keen sense of rhythm and sound, Lane was instrumental in the creation of tap dancing.

Early Life

Master Juba was born William Henry Lane in Providence, Rhode Island, probably in 1825. He was born a free man. Little is known about his childhood except that he was an accomplished dancer by the age of ten. Juba spent his childhood in New York City in the Five Points District of Manhattan, a community of poor Irish and free African Americans. The area afforded him the opportunity to learn a variety of dances. He became accomplished at the dances of the African Americans who, as plantation slaves, developed foot-stomping and hand-clapping routines that imitated the sounds of drums. Because drumming had been the primary means of communication among the Africans in their homeland, slaves were not permitted to play drums; consequently, they used their bodies as instruments.

A saloon and dance-hall performer known as Uncle Jim Lowe apparently was Juba’s main dance teacher. Juba also learned British folk dances, especially the Irish jigs. He danced in the saloons, dance halls, and markets of the area, including Paradise Square. He occasionally received money in return for his dancing but more often received a meal of fried eels and ale as his payment. Juba also became an accomplished tambourine and banjo player. In addition, he eventually added singing and whimsical patter to his routines.

Life’s Work

By 1838, the young dancer was performing in minstrel shows as Master Juba; the name was taken from the name of plantation slave dancing referred to as “patting juba.” In these early performances, he appeared in blackface just as white minstrel performers did. Eventually, because of his reputation as an excellent dancer, he was able to appear without the burnt-cork makeup. During the early 1840’s, Juba probably performed at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum, billed as the “Dancing Wonder of the Age.” In 1842, he was dancing as the main attraction at Almack’s in the Five Points District. It was there that the English author Charles Dickens, nicknamed Boz, first saw Juba dance and wrote about his amazing talent. As a result, Juba often was billed as Boz’s Juba.

Juba maintained his reputation as the best dancer around by competing in a series of dance contests against an Irishman named John (Jack) Diamond. In 1844, they competed at the Bowery Amphitheater and the Chatham Theatre; Juba won both contests. Promoters then arranged dance contests between Juba and Diamond across the United States. Juba never lost. In 1845, he returned to minstrel shows and earned top billing over the white performers. He performed with various minstrel troupes, including the Ethiopian Serenaders, Pell’s Serenaders, and White’s Serenaders. In 1846, he went to Europe with White’s Serenaders. In the shows, he danced and performed in sketches. Two years later, he toured England with Pell’s Serenaders, performing throughout the country and for the queen. Juba stayed in England, married, opened a dance studio, and continued performing. He is believed to have died in London in 1852.

Significance

Juba played an important role in the evolution of dance both in the United States and in England. He combined the African American slave dances with elements of other ethnic dances, especially the Irish reel, jig, and clog, to create a dance that was energetic and rhythmic and created its own accompaniment. Juba’s ability to create a variety of sounds by striking his heels and the balls of his feet against the floor, coupled with his physical dexterity and agility, earned him the title of “dancin’est fellow ever was” and recognition as the earliest performer to do a tap dance. Although minstrelsy was dominated by white performers in blackface well into the twentieth century, Juba’s top billing in minstrel shows set a precedent that eventually opened minstrelsy to African Americans.

Bibliography

Lhamon, W. T., Jr. Raising Cain: Blackface Performance from Jim Crow to Hip-Hop. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000. Connects the minstrel show to its descendants in entertainment. Views minstrelsy as a liberating force for the appreciation of African American culture. Elaborates on the influence of minstrelsy and its dances, songs, skits, and music on later American entertainment.

Mahar, William J. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999. Provides interesting discussion of Juba’s performance with various minstrel groups. Covers minstrelsy from 1843 to 1860.

Stark, Seymour. Men in Blackface: True Stories of the Minstrel Show. Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2000. Examines the minstrel show from the perspectives of popular art and race.

Winter, Marian Hannah. “Juba and American Minstrelsy.” In Inside the Minstrel Mask: Readings in Nineteenth Century Blackface Minstrelsy, edited by Annemarie Bean, James V. Hatch, and Brooks McNamara. Hanover, N.H.: Wesleyan University Press, 1996. Vividly recounts Juba’s role in the development of tap dance and black minstrelsy.