The Black actor, singer and dancer Martinho Corrêa Vasques (1822-1890): lundus, arias, vaudevilles and parodies in the Empire of slavery

Abstract

Based on hemerographic and bibliographic research, this article discusses the artistic trajectory of the comic actor-singer-dancer Martinho Corrêa Vasques (1822-1890), in the period between 1841 and 1875, since his entry into João Caetano's dramatic company, with which he performed in theatrical shows in benefit of enslaved manumission and Catholic brotherhoods of blacks and poor free men in the 1840s, until the longest period of the artist's career, when he worked in the imperial capital and in the provinces of Rio Grande, São Paulo, Pernambuco and Bahia. The article reveals the fundamental characteristics of Martinho Corrêa Vasques' style, highlighting the important role of co-authorship played by the artist in the scenic-musical performance of the lundus, arias, vaudevilles and parodies, in addition to revealing sociopolitical and ethnic implications of the performance of the black artist on nineteenth-century stages, during the slavery regime.

Keywords

• lundu
• comic opera
• musical theater
• performance
• slavery