In the early nineteenth century, Black people were frequently mocked and distorted on American stages.
In minstrel performances, white actors used blackface to depict dehumanizing and exaggerated caricatures of African Americans for white viewers. However, Black artists were constructing a counter-narrative even during these gloomy instances of cultural appropriation and ridicule. They dispelled misconceptions and changed the conversation about what it means to be Black in America by exposing realities about the world via their genuine storytelling and movement.
This history serves as a reminder that representation in the performing arts is about more than just amusement; it’s also about challenging social prejudices, valuing diversity, and giving voice to the complex Black experience. This endeavor has traditionally been led by Black theater artists and dancers, who use their art to empower, educate, and amuse audiences.
In Houston, this tradition is still flourishing. It serves as a reminder that the tales we tell and the art we produce bind our history, present, and future together.
Multidisciplinary artist, performer, and organizer Jasmine Hearn is a perfect example of how Black performance art is changing. Hearn, who was up in Acres Homes, has studied interpretative dance and storytelling in great detail. Memories Fleet: A Return to Matr is a migration project that Hearn created that centers on the surviving memories of their Black dance matriarchs in Houston.
An album, feast, online archive, anthological catalog, and site-specific experience are presented through the utilization of the stories to produce original sound soundtracks, choreographies, and clothing. Hearn began to inquire about things like memory storage. What aspects of our past do we recall? How can the lives of mothers be preserved?
I still dance because it helps me remember [and] imagine. Hearn said, “How can I keep up the Sankofa practice of thinking back on my origins so that I can visualize where I need to be and where I want to be?” as methods of carrying on the family tree and taking into account who is pursuing me.
According to Hearn, Black artists flourish when they work together. Hearn recently collaborated with Dr. Lindsay Gary, the executive director and founder of Dance Afrikana, who organized the Kuumba Festival, which honored the artistic spirit of the African diaspora. The festival showcased the variety of Black dances across the diaspora through dance performances, workshops, and community engagement activities.
According to Hearn, a lot of people in the field still utilize this competitive tool, which I believe doesn’t foster healthy connections. This leads to a mindset of shortage and might lead to ways of isolation.
According to Gary, Dance Afrikana is a recovery of our tales and traditions that goes beyond simple movement. Black people are able to bridge the gap between the past and present through dance, enabling others to identify with the rhythms, movements, and stories they portray.
It enables a deeper connection between people and their heritage and history. Gary stated that we cannot truly comprehend hip-hop dancing if we do not comprehend the connection between West African dances and hip-hop. We cannot overlook the chronology, because we are all impacted by one another’s cultures. The situation is not one-sided.
Gary draws inspiration for her struggle to elevate Black tales via dance from the Black Arts Movement and the Harlem Renaissance. Debbie Allen, a dance icon from Houston, was cited by Gary as the ideal illustration of how racism nearly destroyed her career but ultimately prevented her from being one of the greatest of all time.
Black artists have opened many doors and led the way in various ways. According to her, black performers have helped to desegregate theaters and stages. The only thing we can do is build upon the legacy that others have left us.
For Black artists to survive, they must have access to opportunities, resources, and money. Elevating theater production as a resource for artists of color has been Denise O. Neal’s mission for more than ten years. She serves as the executive director of the festival of short plays called Fade To Black, which presents fresh plays by African-American playwrights.
Her minority-led non-profit organization, Shabach Enterprise, is in charge of producing the festival. With more than 600 local artists of color employed and more than 150 performances produced, it is a community-based, volunteer-supported, culturally diverse organization.
Collaboration is key, and coalitions favor those you know. According to O Neal, even if you are an exceptionally talented writer, you might not have the necessary network or support structure to advance your work. That was the difference between some of [the] white playwrights and some of my African-American playwrights.
To begin the Juneteenth celebration, Fade to Black will launch its inaugural Arts Festival from June 8–14. The festival features new 10-minute plays by African-American authors and is the first and only national short play festival in Houston.
“It is its best rendering when it gets to the stage because the playwrights have a director, a cast, and this community that we bring to support them,” she said. The intention is for someone to view them and remark, “Hey, that was a good piece.” Have you have anything longer? Or is there something I could make for you? That’s where it begins.
The theater served as a conduit.Tyler Perry, the first Black studio mogul, joined before going on to become a filmmaker. His writing developed into a creative outlet that produced two New York Times best-selling books, twenty stage plays, seventeen television series, and twenty feature films. O Neal wants to keep Black talent domestic while creating the conditions for it to flourish.
According to her, artists sometimes believe that they must leave Houston for New York or Los Angeles in order to succeed, even though Houston has a lot to offer. Moving up in your job is perfectly acceptable, but it’s alarming to be told that I have to leave Texas entirely in order to advance and never come back.
However, the Black performing arts scene is expanding, and according to O Neil, this growth requires all hands on deck and more people at the table for sustainability and to improve people’s quality of life, where Black artists’ aspirations are not viewed as a hobby or a side gig but rather as a means of supporting themselves and their families.
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