BBB:LHWS #051-1 Human performance...
...has ancient roots in ritual, storytelling, music, and dance, evolving from prehistoric communal activities to formalized theater. Mumming originated in pre-Christian seasonal rites that involved masked performances which symbolized death and rebirth.
In the 19th century, minstrel shows featured white performers in blackface who caricatured African Americans through music and comedy, and popularized certain instruments and songs but perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Minstrelsy influenced American entertainment forms but reinforced racist myths, using exaggerated dialects, stereotypical characters, and appropriated dances, with complex legacies acknowledged by modern scholarship.
