Ma Rainey's dramatic lilt

lilt \lilt\, noun:

1. rhythmic swing or cadence.
2. a lilting song or tune.

verb:
1. to sing or play in a light, tripping, or rhythmic manner.

I like to believe that I have made my Interpretation of Drama class famous on this blog, and the interesting events just keep rolling in.

Yesterday we had to read (and yes, I say had to because nobody read the play, we were all too busy writing a paper for this class the night before) a play called Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a play that I also believe no one in the class had ever heard of.  Luckily, I think there was a point in the class that m teacher realized that no one read the play.

 So what can you do in a situation like this?  Show the class video clips of the bluesy lilt for which the play is named?  By the original Ma Rainey?  YES!

That's exactly what our teacher did.  For a good seven minutes or so, instead of discussing why Ma was late and forced her band to go get her a Coca Cola, we listened to the original Black Bottom song, and then clips of people dancing to it in the 1920's.  It was pretty interesting, and I honestly wish that kind of dancing was around now, instead of the grinding that we currently have.  The black bottom is so much funnier/classier depending on who you dance it with.  Maybe I would go out just a little bit more on the weekends....

Here's what we got to sit and listen to: