'Ethiopian Serenaders' was a name used by several troupes of influential early minstrel performers who toured Britain between 1846 and 1850, playing in venues ranging from saloons to castles, for audiences ranging from the working classes to Queen Victoria.  This troupe in particular appears to have 'cleaned up' minstrelsy, making it safe for the middle classes; and they introduced the influential dancer Juba to a large audience.  Juba was the only performer of colour in these early minstrel shows, and worth looking at for that reason alone.  He was also quite possibly the most 'noticed' (that is, reviewed) dancer in Britain during his brief career.

This section focuses narrowly on the travels of two different versions of The Ethiopian Serenaders.  The sole consistent feature between then, besides the name, was the appearance and leadership of G. W. Pell, an influential clown and 'bones' player.

The early blackface minstrels came from a wide range of backgrounds and points of origin, though most were white working-class Anglo-Americans.  One of the goals of The Juba Project is to re-examine the backgrounds of the men who took to this kind of make-up during its first years of widespread popularity.  The answer for the Ethiopian Serenaders:  they were a very American group, advertising (falsely) their authentic re-creation of an American culture--the songs, dances and other entertainments of plantation slavery.  They were working class, and they were white--with the extraordinary exception of William Lane, 'Juba,' a dancer of colour in a segregated business.

Here are three sample biographies of representative performers in the Ethiopian Serenaders--a clown, a banjo player, and a dancer.  They knew each other well--for a while they toured alone, as a trio.  They may be seen to represent different strains of minstrelsy.

Use the navigation tools to the left of this page to access brief biographies of some of the Serenaders, information related to the venues in which they performed during this period, samples of the kind of music they performed, and a timeline detailing their travels using reviews and other primary sources.