I’m taking a break from my thesis to share a few thoughts I had this week; they are a bit random and may not be related to each other, so I hope any of them make sense. I’m also writing this before looking at others’ responses, so I hope I don’t repeat someone too much. I guess if I do, there’s some common ground:
--I’ve been talking to one of my mentors, Tisch Jones, about her research: Antebellum Theatres of Free People of Color in
New Orleans; her article is coming out later this fall.
She discovered that some of the first theatres in
America were in
New Orleans, including two African American theatres (French-speaking) before the Civil War.
In fact, one of the first Spanish-speaking theatres were located where one of the local bars reside now (Pat O’Briens??)
The interesting thing is that there are few to no theatres left in
New Orleans; so why does a place with so much theatrical history have a dearth of theatres?
Some blame it (economically) on Mardi Gras, probably the most theatrical thing left in N.O.
I can get access to more information about her research, if interested.
--Speaking of Mardi Gras, one of the attractions of the event is the appearance of the Black Indians, or Mardi Gras Indians, of New Orleans. These are real Indians who wear full authentic garb and perform ritual dances. One of the professors at Iowa, Richard Turner, wrote a book about them, and actually tried to get one of the members, Chief Montana, to speak at a symposium at Iowa; problem is, many local groups were offended by the idea of this person coming in his Indian garb—maybe not realizing that he was truly of American Indian heritage himself. I should be able to contact Prof. Turner about getting contact information for Chief Montana and the Mardi Gras Indians, if we’re interested in doing something with the group.
--On the current theatre front, I learned more about a donation project that a few Iowa theatres started to help Dillard University. Dillard lost much of their theatre, including all of their costumes. Professors from a few colleges in Iowa, who worked with Dillard as guest artists in the past, decided to help by cleaning out their excess costume storage and donating costumes to Dillard. The group plans to take the costumes to Dillard in mid-May; by that time, they will know how much more the college needs in terms of costumes or other resources, based on their storage capacity. The rep from Iowa told me that she would let me know if I should ask this group or others for donation assistance after they drop off what they have in May.
But this brings up a larger topic: the effect of the hurricanes on the theatre programs. While my mentor has contacts at Dillard, we’re not sure what’s going on with other schools in the area, including U. of New Orleans, Tulane, and Loyola. The unfortunate situation for theatres especially at many historical black colleges is their department does not get as much support from the college as does the music department or other fields of study. In fact, the theatre space is not respected as a practical space for theatre as a lab room would be for science; instead, the college will use the space for almost every administrative function or admission event—thus affecting the quality of the space. All this, before the hurricanes hit. This obviously could be a common occurrence at other smaller schools, but it’s important to maintain a legacy of quality in theatre departments in all colleges.
One of us suggested working with and helping out an organization or school in the area, so I thought we should also consider any of the many colleges that are trying to their legs up. We could easily incorporate a music component to any project with them..
--Which leads to my final idea: jazz. I mentioned this in the past, but I’m just curious about what happened to the musicians who were displaced by the storm—did they come back? Also, did any of them stay around and weather the storm? I have a colleague who said that when she recently went to N.O., the sound and tone of jazz and music was much different than it was before the hurricanes. That’s quite a statement, and I can only imagine what that means and sounds like. It’s something else to consider.
So that’s what I have; I just hope any of them complement yours or can serve our purpose.
I welcome any comments or thoughts.
Thanks for you time.
--bryan moore
1 comment:
Bryan,
What a great thesis break you've given us! Allow me to do a sort of point-by-point stream-of-consciouness response to what your wrote:
I've been following up on the Free People of Color research and finding it to be a really great and interesting history. Please please get all the info you can from Tisch - we will definitely use it.
I love the idea (again with my two opposites both being true bent) that the city is incredibly theatrical and yet doesn't have a lot of theatre. I see a great connection here with Kathleen's research, and I think we should definitely keep this idea alive as we move forward. In the article "Wading Towards Home" that I posted a link to, he mentions being a part of the society activities of royalty and finding this to be so normal for NO. We in theatre usually we say that we want it to play a big role in people's lives; perhaps it has done this in NO, making the theatre space somewhat superfluous? A fun thought to consider.
One of the things I uncovered in my research is that a small number of African slaves would escape and find shelter, refuge, and community in the neighboring Indian tribes. The Black Indians, then, represent a site of resistance to the unjust practice of slavery and a rememberance of the new and unique heritage formed by these mutually resistant and marginalized groups.
Dillard also speaks to that resistance as well as to the unique rights the Free People of Color were granted in NO. Because of the Code Noir, free blacks were able to establish this University and educate other free blacks because they were allowed more rights than in other places. The history of this University would be another great research site.
And Jazz, of course. I think it speaks to the notion of the American Dream (in slightly rougher terms than usual) that Louis Armstrong was raised in "The Battlefield," a particularly rough neighborhood in NO. His parents both abandoned him (I heard that his mother actually was a whore and he lived in a brothel as a boy, but I don't know if this is fact or myth). He was sent to (and named one of his first bands after) The New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs and learned to play the cornet when a Russian Jew (also a minority in good old Catholic NO) loaned him the money to buy the instrument. From there, he became about the biggest name in jazz history. Rags to riches indeed! I would love to see how Armstrong is commemorated in the city (after arguably turning a blind eye to him as a child in impoverished conditions) and to include some of his music in what we do. Also I have to think of the Dirty Dozen Brass Bamd and the Zydeco stylings of Clifton Chenier.
K
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