Dancing in Sitcoms: Minstrelsy in The Cosby Show (Joseph Duffey)

Dancing in Sitcoms: Minstrelsy in The Cosby Show (Joseph Duffey)

    Minstrelsy has a complicated legacy in the United States. It was intended to be a form of low-brow, distasteful entertainment, as white performers would perform don burnt cork or shoe polish and perform extravagant dances to mock African Americans. Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice, considered the creator of minstrelsy, made "Jim Crow" - the first popular minstrel persona that skyrocketed in popularity in the 1830s. Dance was an integral part of minstrel shows, and while it is widely considered offensive today by most whites and blacks, it was not completely rejected by African Americans. While Frederick Douglass found the act reprehensible, W.E.B. Dubois found it as an avenue where black Americans could showcase their talent. Some black Americans would take up minstrelsy as a way to claim their humanity in a time of brutal oppression. 

    The impact of black dancing bodies in minstrelsy would be reflected in the 1950s with Amos 'n' Andy. In "Dancing for laughs, signifyin(g) bodies and the Black American sitcom" by Cara Hagan, the author mentioned how Kingfish had an exaggerated reenactment of a "dying swan" that he saw in the movies. The scene would involve buffoonery for comedic effect that would be a signature in minstrel a
cts. However, would there be much change with one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1980s - The Cosby Show?

    Bill Cosby, the famed comedian-turned-felon, was known to be "America's Dad" playing the role of Cliff Huxtable, where he was the father in an upper-middle class black family. The show is considered to be full of dance, but Hagan pointed towards a history of minstrelsy when Cosby's dancing is exaggerated for comedic effect. Historically, Cosby's dance scenes in the programs represent him as unskilled compared to a talented dancer. Referencing the "jitterbug scene", Hagan wrote, "Cosby's awkwardness in the jitterbug scene is reminiscent of the slapstick antics of minstrel performers like Bert Williams who used perceived ineptitude alongside a straight man to garner laughs" (Hagan 2024: 525). Cosby's awkwardness is questioned by Hagan to be detrimental concerning the history of black stereotypes. The idea of being unskilled and clownish all come to mind when thinking of the jitterbug scene. It also raises the question if the cast and writer's room believed that such clear slapstick was necessary for a laugh.