The Roaring Ragtimes

The Roaring Ragtimes The 1920s in America brought economic prosperity, hopes of the American dream, and new art innovations. Ragtime music was the theme music to the popular Roaring 20s. Money was of no object to people, and the parties never seemed to end. Unfortunately, the 1920s for black people meant a small portion of […]

Black on Broadway

Black on Broadway Black theatre has become a staple in performance style, music and acting over the years, making it the primary influence of many musical theatre performances today.  History of Black Musical Theatre Black theatre has roots in minstrel shows which were often put on by white performers to imitate black stereotypes for comedic […]

The History of Ragtime: “Cakewalk” and “Coon song”

Introduction Ragtime was around but way before the name was given to the genre. However, by the end of the 1890’s it was finally defined as Ragtime and consisted of a mixture of written music and oral tradition, that shifted between early jazz and classical music while also incorporating both African American and European styles […]

Women in Ragtime: Winifred Atwell

Ragtime Ragtime is a musical style created by black people in the late 1800s. Ragtime existed long before it was even given the name “ragtime”. By the turn of the century, the term “ragtime” had a whole meaning. It was defined as a performance style and practices applied to composing and playing popular song, dance, […]

Ragtime and the Everlasting Cakewalk

Ragtime and the Everlasting Cakewalk Its Ragtime! Ragtime was an amazingly influential and monumental contribution to African American music and all music in general. Without the creation and introduction of ragtime, there would be a lack of uniqueness and variation in music. Even though it was short lived, the stylization of the genre was completely […]

Women in Ragtime: Rosa Henderson

Rosa Henderson Women in Ragtime         When attempting to look up information on women singers and performers of the Ragtime era, you will notice that there is not much of it. This is probably due to the fact that the places where bands and singers performed at, such as dancehalls and parlors, […]

“Have your cake and eat it too” The history of Cakewalk

Introduction Ragtime defined a performance style and the practices related to playing popular song and instrumental music. An element of Ragtime is cakewalk. Cakewalk is a dance that imitates white upper class behavior. This was originally performed by African American slaves and the best performer generally got a cake as their prize, hence where the […]