Spring Break
Professor discusses the history of minstrelsy
Michelle Kirms
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: News
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Minstrel music was also said to reproduce what was going on in the streets. One such instance was when a performer known as T.D. Rice saw a crippled black man on the street performing a song and dance. Rice asked the man to teach him the skit, and portrayed it on stage exactly as the crippled man did. Dunson said that Rice even asked to borrow the crippled man's clothes to reenact it perfectly.
Dunson said, white men would paint their faces black to perform minstrel music. She went on to explain that this type of entertainment is similar in today's society to Eminem. Dunson explained that this type of cross-racial interest has brought the white culture into a new type of entertainment.
Dunson said she was always interested in 19th century pop culture. She said it gives suggestions as to why America's culture is the way it is today.
Dunson said she became interested in minstrel music and began creating a catalog of sheet music, which after completing she had put away for a year.
"I didn't think to work on it because it was too interesting," she said.
Although Dunson graduated with a Ph.D. in English and American Studies, she studied music as well and found minstrelsy very interesting.
"I wanted to learn what was behind the pages," she said. "Anyone can get a piece of sheet music and hear it."
Dunson said she also played some of the music on the piano. In fact, she said she learned how to play banjo and other instruments in order to play it well.
Dunson said minstrel music holds with its fascinating imagery about women's sexuality. She said that there is not much written about women sexuality in the 19th century, which is why she finds it in music.
Dunson said, white men would paint their faces black to perform minstrel music. She went on to explain that this type of entertainment is similar in today's society to Eminem. Dunson explained that this type of cross-racial interest has brought the white culture into a new type of entertainment.
Dunson said she was always interested in 19th century pop culture. She said it gives suggestions as to why America's culture is the way it is today.
Dunson said she became interested in minstrel music and began creating a catalog of sheet music, which after completing she had put away for a year.
"I didn't think to work on it because it was too interesting," she said.
Although Dunson graduated with a Ph.D. in English and American Studies, she studied music as well and found minstrelsy very interesting.
"I wanted to learn what was behind the pages," she said. "Anyone can get a piece of sheet music and hear it."
Dunson said she also played some of the music on the piano. In fact, she said she learned how to play banjo and other instruments in order to play it well.
Dunson said minstrel music holds with its fascinating imagery about women's sexuality. She said that there is not much written about women sexuality in the 19th century, which is why she finds it in music.
