It has been argued that Juba's dance was an authentic depiction of southern plantation performance, and therefore African in origin. It has also been argued that Juba ‘invented’ tap dance. Both statements are impossible to prove, but certainly he was doing something that was difficult to describe; and he had a clear and long-lasting effect on dance. The question is, what dance? The eyewitness descriptions are an attempt to ‘translate’ his performance into words, often badly.
This section provides access to two publications examining the descriptions of Juba's dance:
See the documents used in the research in WITNESS TO JUBA and in the Hyperdocuments 'Juba Dancing' and 'Yankee Mason'.
There is ample information about Juba's life in other areas of this project site. Here is a partial summary that might be helpful here.
- He appeared on the variety stage as a dancer, usually with a single banjo player as accompanist. But he was more than dancer, playing the tambourine, telling jokes, and singing.
- He was advertised as Boz’s Juba–Boz referring to Charles Dickens, who described a young black dancer based on an 1842 visit to New York’s slums (in his book American Notes).
- His first two years in England were spent touring with The Ethiopian Serenaders. His presence in a blackface minstrel show–as an aggressively racist, all-white entertainment -- is exceptional. How could he be allowed on this stage? Was he in blackface? Was he a full member of the troupe, treated with equality, or was he an 'added attraction'? Or both?
- His specialty dances for the minstrel show were called the ‘Marriage Festival’ and ‘Plantation’ dances, which likely bore a resemblance to his solo performances in variety houses (with a banjo accompanist). His foremost specialty, however, was a wench (or drag) dance to the song ‘Lucy Long.’ This was a feature of the minstrel show; there is no record of his dancing in drag as a solo performer.
- After he left the Ethiopian Serenaders, he briefly ran his own company, and after that toured to music halls, saloons and working class theatres around the UK. At this point he begins to disappear from the documentary record, and every now and again, the mention of his performance is negative--he 'jumps too fast.'
- Juba may have died in England around 1852. His skeleton may have been on display in an anatomical museum, or a music hall, shortly afterwards. All these 'maybes' are later reports for which evidence is inconclusive.