Jason and Aaron White’s performance “The Dance,” a powerful reflection on the depth of racial stereotyping within our culture, explored the painful truth about the history of American minstrels. Roughly 40 audience members attended the show on April 21 in Allen Studio Theatre at Pomona College.
Prior to the performance was an open discussion that focused on the audiences’ perspective of the reality of racial stereotypes and the pain that follows.
The performance informed the public about the truth of American minstrels and the tragedies that followed in being an African American during the period when minstrels were widespread and popular in the 19th century.
“I look at this performance as art,” said Ina Friedman, a retired theater lover. “This performance was both educational as well as entertaining.”
“The Dance” took 150 years of minstrel history and broke it down into a one hour segment containing comedy skits that modernized typical minstrel performances. American minstrels traditionally performed for white audiences as a means of entertainment and portrayed African Americans in a humorously demeaning setting.
The actors in the performance, Jason and Aaron White, were two clowns with their faces painted with black makeup. The blackface clowns held several stereotypical African American characteristics such as exaggerated lips and widened eyes, as well as an uneducated view of them acting in a lazy, primitive manner and loving fried chicken.
“The performance was done in such an elaborate and historically sweeping way,” said John Murphy, a local community member. “From the very beginning of minstrel history to contemporary, the ambiguity of racial stereotypes in America was shown.”
However because of the prevalent stereotypes in this day and age, the White brothers did not stop at African American stereotypes but included other races that are victim to current stereotypes including Native Americans, Asians and Hispanics.
While the performance was intended to be informative to the audience, the skits definitely pulled in light-hearted laughter in scenes such as when the White brothers danced to songs they called “authentic African music” including “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas and “Grillz” by Nelly.
In this way, “The Dance” associated American minstrels with current events so that younger audience members could relate to it.
At the conclusion of the performance a picture of an African American man subjected to a lynching on a tree in an apparent urbanized setting came into the spotlight. The laughing ceased as the reality of the racist history of our country was displayed blatantly in the sudden darkness of the theater.
Following the performance was an open question and answer segment where audience members spoke directly to Jason and Aaron White about American minstrels and racial stereotyping. One audience member explained how it was an awakening to actually see the history come alive and to see how these stereotypes are still going on in modern day America.
Upcoming performances of “The Dance” and further information about the theatrical play can be found at www.inthacut.net.
Renee Bamford can be reached at belle_renee@yahoo.com.
