Overview

The Whitman Sisters were the highest paid act on the Negro Vaudeville Circuit, Theater Owner Booking Association (Toby), and one of the longest surviving touring companies (1899-1942). The group was considered the greatest incubator of dancing talent for Negro shows on or off Toby, and significantly contributed to American theater and dance history. In The Royalty of Negro Vaudeville , Nadine George-Graves provides an historical narrative of their achievements and uses black feminist theories, feminist theories of performance, and theories of class and popular culture to analyze the many layers of performance in which the Whitman Sisters participated, on and off the stage. She shows that these four black women manipulated their race, gender and class to resist hegemonic forces while achieving success. By maintaining a high-class image, they were able to challenge fictions of racial and gender identity.

Full Product Details

Author:   N. George-Graves
Publisher:   Palgrave USA
Imprint:   Palgrave Macmillan
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780312225629

ISBN 10:   0312225628
Pages:   183
Publication Date:   30 January 2003
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface: Surviving the Silence Introduction Setting the Stage: The Whitman Sisters' Beginnings, Influences and a Performance Reconstruction Race, Gender and Class: The Whitman Sisters and the Politics of Performance and Management Toby, the Depression and Beyond: The Whitman Sisters' Later Years Appendices Bibliography

Reviews

...first throughly researched and intelligent account of these forgotten women. Women's Review of Books

...first throughly researched and intelligent account of these forgotten women. Women's Review of Books <br>

...first throughly researched and intelligent account of these forgotten women. Women's Review of Books <br>

Author Information

Nadine George Graves is Assistant Professor of Theater Studies at Yale University.

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