Juba!

This fictionalized account follows William Henry Lane, an African American dancer known as Master Juba, from his young adulthood in 1840s New York to his death in Liverpool at thirty. In Five Points, Manhattan, he pursues a living as a professional dancer, drawing on dance traditions from the neighborhood’s many cultures, particularly Irish influences, while creating his own steps. After Charles Dickens sees him perform and writes about him in England, Juba joins an otherwise all-white touring troupe and travels overseas. The book includes photographs, maps, other period images, and an afterword about its creation.