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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span
lang="EN-CA">Please forward to your lists<br>
Apologies for cross-posting<br>
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span
lang="EN-CA">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<span style=""> </span><span
style=""> </span><span style="">
</span></span></b><span lang="EN-CA"><span style="">
</span><span style="">
</span>February 7, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Graduate
Centre
for Study of Drama, University of Toronto<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">BURNT CORK: TRADITIONS AND LEGACIES OF
BLACKFACE
MINSTRELSY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">MARCH 28-29, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">An Interdisciplinary Symposium<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span
lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">Dedicated
to the
highly contentious and richly complex tradition of blackface
minstrelsy, this
two day symposium aims to provide an opportunity for exploration,
discussion,
and debate concerning the varied legacies of this performance idiom.<span
style=""> </span>All events will take place at the Graduate
Centre for Study of Drama's Robert Gill Theatre.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-CA">For
much of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, blackface minstrelsy–in
which a group of performers wearing makeup made of burnt cork pretended
to
‘delineate’ the culture of black Americans–was arguably the most
popular
entertainment in North America.<span style=""> </span>A
renewed scholarly interest in this contentious form has produced
studies
treating a range of issues:<span style=""> </span>its
contradictory depictions of class, race and gender; its relationship
with an
American popular street culture; its legacy in the development of
racial
stereotyping, with which we continue to live; and its parallel legacy
in a
number of persistent performance idioms in humour, dance and music, in
live
performance, film and television.<span style="">
</span>Although an American form, from its beginnings minstrel
performers
toured across North America and around the world, establishing a taste
for
American popular culture in all English-speaking colonies and in
Western
Europe.<span style=""> </span>This symposium will explore,
from seven individual perspectives, and with plenty of time for an open
discussion, the complex and sometimes troubling issues raised by this
tradition.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Featured
Speakers:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Dale
Cockrell</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> ~ Blair
School of Music, Vanderbilt College ~ <i style="">Demons
of Disorder</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Catherine
M. Cole</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> ~
Theatre & Dance, UC Berkeley ~ <i style="">Ghana’s
Concert Party Theatre<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Daphne
Brooks</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> ~ African
American Studies, Princeton ~ <i style="">Bodies In
Dissent</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Arthur
Knight</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> ~ American
Studies, College of William and Mary ~ <i style="">Disintegrating
the Musical<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">W. T.
Lhamon</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> ~ English,
Emeritus, Florida State ~ <i style="">Raising Cain</i>,
and <i style="">Jump Jim Crow<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Linda
Williams</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> ~ Rhetoric
and Film Studies, UC Berkeley ~ <i style="">Playing
the Race Card<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Original
Dance Performance by: Dean Moss<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Friday, March 28: 7:00 pm
– 9:00 pm, Reception to follow<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Saturday, March 29: 10:00
am – 6:00 pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Robert Gill Theatre<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA"><span style=""> </span>214 College Street,
(St. George St. entrance) 3rd fl.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">All events free of charge<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span
lang="EN-CA">This symposium is made possible by a generous donation
from the
Jackman Humanities Institute and<span style="">
</span>sponsored by the University of Toronto's Graduate Centre for
Study of
Drama, Cinema Studies Institute, Centre for the Study of the United
States,
Faculty of Music and Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies<b
style=""><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">For more information:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3minstr/conference.html">http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3minstr/conference.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><i style=""><u><span lang="EN-CA">For interview
requests or other information please contact:<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span lang="EN-CA">Luella Massey at 416-978-7986 or <a
href="mailto:l.massey@utoronto.ca">l.massey@utoronto.ca</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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