Master Juba's footsteps: Mapping the transatlantic geographies of tap dance through mid-nineteenth century performance circuits

This paper investigates the life history and geography of William Henry Lane, more commonly known by his stage name ‘Master Juba’. As a once-renowned, mid-nineteenth-century African American performer, Lane's microhistory is central to tracing the wider cultural and historical geographies of tap dance across circum-Atlantic performance, appearing as one of the earliest named tap dancers in the historical record. While his biographical details remain ambiguous, Lane's unique rhythmic, percussive dance style heavily influenced nineteenth-century transatlantic performance. This paper traces and maps ‘Master Juba's’ footsteps across the Atlantic, first exploring the historical geographies of the Five Points District, Manhattan, which fostered tap dance's early development through competitive challenge dancing, and where Charles Dickens allegedly witnessed Lane's ‘inimitable’ dancing. It subsequently traces Lane's journey to Britain in 1848, mapping his performances across Victorian Britain through the geographies of nineteenth-century performance circuits. Lane's myriad performances are further investigated, working both within and beyond the constraints of minstrelsy, which fundamentally challenged race, gender, and class inequalities in Victorian Britain. The paper finally explores the archival silences surrounding Lane's life and early demise. This historical geography speaks more widely to circum-Atlantic mobilities, Black performers in nineteenth-century Britain, and advocates a more-than-representational historical geography of dance. • Investigates William Henry Lane (‘Master Juba’), a once-renowned mid-nineteenth century African American performer. • Explores the circum-Atlantic historical geographies of tap dance through mapping transatlantic performance circuits. • Contributes to wider scholarship on Black performers in Victorian Britain. • Methodologically critiques and investigates archival fragments and silences. • Works towards a more-than-representational historical geographical approach.