African Stars: Studies in Black South African PerformanceIn recent years black South African music and dance have become ever more popular in the West, where they are now widely celebrated as expressions of opposition to discrimination and repression. Less well known is the rich history of these arts, which were shaped by several generations of black artists and performers whose struggles, visions, and aspirations did not differ fundamentally from those of their present-day counterparts. In five detailed case studies Veit Erlmann digs deep to expose the roots of the most important of these performance traditions. He relates the early history of isicathamiya, the a cappella vocal style made famous by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In two chapters on Durban between the World Wars he charts the evolution of Zulu music and dance, studying in depth the transformation of ingoma, a dance form popular among migrant workers since the 1930s. He goes on to record the colorful life and influential work of Reuben T. Caluza, South Africa's first black ragtime composer. And Erlmann's reconstruction of the 1890s concert tours of an Afro-American vocal group, Orpheus M. McAdoo and the Virginia Jubilee Singers, documents the earliest link between the African and American performance traditions. Numerous eyewitness reports, musicians' personal testimonies, and song texts enrich Erlmann's narratives and demonstrate that black performance evolved in response to the growing economic and racial segmentation of South African society. Early ragtime, ingoma, and isicathamiya enabled the black urban population to comment on their precarious social position and to symbolically construct a secure space within a rapidly changing political world. Today, South African workers, artists, and youth continue to build upon this performance tradition in their struggle for freedom and democracy. The early performers portrayed by Erlmann were guiding lights—African stars—by which the present and future course of South Africa is being determined. |
Contents
1 Introduction | 1 |
Orpheus M McAdoo and the Virginia Jubilee Singers in South Africa 18901898 | 21 |
3 Cultural Osmosis Ethnicity and Tradition in Black Popular Music in Durban 19131939 | 54 |
The Domestication of Ignoma Dance 19291939 | 95 |
Reuben T Caluza and Early Popular Music in South Africa | 112 |
The Early Social History of Zulu Migrant Workers Choral Music | 156 |
Common terms and phrases
African music African Star Afro-American Amanzimtoti Archives audiences Bantu World black American black musical black popular black South Africans black urban Caluza Cape Town century choral Christian church colonial Comaroff competitions composed concerts consciousness coon Coplan Dhlomo Dube Durban's black early isicathamiya Edendale elite entertainment Erlmann eThekwini ethnic Ethnomusicology forms halls Hampton University HMV GU ideology Ilanga imusic industrial ingoma dancing Interview isicathamiya isicathamiya choirs isicathulo isikhwela Jo Johannesburg Jubilee Singers Kimberley labor Linda's Makhanya mance Mariannhill McAdoo middle-class migrant workers minstrel shows mission modern Mseleku musical history musicians Natal Native Negro Ohlange Choir Orpheus Pietermaritzburg political popular culture popular music popular performance quartet racial ragtime Ravan Press recorded repertoire Reuben role rural singing slaves social South African South African black South African society Southern Workman spirituals structure styles symbols tion tour Tracey traditional Transvaal troupe tunes vaudeville wedding songs working-class Zulu music