Hubbry Logo
Barbara Ann TeerBarbara Ann TeerMain
Open search
Barbara Ann Teer
Community hub
Barbara Ann Teer
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Barbara Ann Teer
Barbara Ann Teer
Barbara Ann Teer
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Barbara Ann Teer (June 18, 1937 – July 21, 2008) was an American writer, producer, teacher, actress and social visionary. In 1968, she founded Harlem's National Black Theatre,[1] the first revenue-generating black theater arts complex in the U.S.[2]

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Teer was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Fred L. and Lila B. Teer, well known as dedicated educators and community leaders. Early in her life, Barbara demonstrated extraordinary gifts and talents. At 15, she graduated from Lincoln High School in East St. Louis. At 19, she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in dance education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and immediately travelled to study dance with Antoine Decroaux in Paris, France, and with Mary Wigman in Berlin, Germany. Her sister, Frederika Teer, was a Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Field Secretary (organizer) in the north and mid-South from 1960. She and Genevieve Hughes were the first women to hold the title.

Career in the theatre

[edit]

Following her international travels, Teer came to New York City, where she pursued a career as a professional dancer. She studied with Alwin Nikolais at the Henry Street Playhouse and Syvilla Fort (Katherine Dunham Technique). She toured with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Louis Johnson Dance Company and the Pearl Bailey Las Vegas Revue. In 1961, Teer made her Broadway debut as dance captain in the Tony Award-winning musical Kwamina, which was choreographed by Agnes de Mille.[3] Teer performed in the film version of Ossie Davis's stage play Purlie Victorious.

After a knee injury in 1962, Teer switched her primary artistic focus from dance to theatre. She studied with notable actors including Sanford Meisner, Paul Mann, Lloyd Richards, and Phillip Burton. Teer crafted a lucrative and successful acting career, receiving numerous accolades, including a Drama Desk Award and several Obie Awards. Between 1961 and 1966, she continued to perform on and off-Broadway, as well as in television and film.

Teer grew disillusioned with the negative stereotypes she came across in her quest for responsible acting roles, making an exception to appear in the 1969 motion picture Slaves.[2] In 1963, she co-founded The Group Theatre Workshop with Robert Hooks, which later became the Negro Ensemble Company. Arguing for independence from the white-dominated mainstream, she wrote in a 1968 article in The New York Times:

We must begin building cultural centers where we can enjoy being free, open and black, where we can find out how talented we really are, where we can be what we were born to be and not what we were brainwashed to be, where we can literally 'blow our minds' with blackness.[3]

National Black Theatre

[edit]
the front of a cream-colored building in Harlem, New York
Front entrance of the original National Black Theater, founded by Teer.

In 1968, with the emerging cultural consciousness of the African experience, Teer decided to found a new theatrical institution committed to cultural transformation, social change, and historical innovation within African-American communities. Leaving a career, and following in the activist footsteps of her older sister Fredrica (who had been an organizer with Eldridge Cleaver and Stokley Carmichael), Teer founded the National Black Theatre (NBT).

Methodology

[edit]

In addition to her role as a pioneer of Black theatre that reached beyond America, she developed a methodology taught exclusively at the National Black Theatre called "TEER: The Technology of Soul."

Schools and cadre trainings

[edit]

In 1974, Teer founded the Children's School for the Development of Intuitive and God-Conscious Art (CSDIG).

Teer wrote, directed and produced ritualistic revivals (plays) and interactive artistic reviews.[citation needed]

Real estate

[edit]

She purchased a city block of property in Central Harlem on a major business corridor at 125th Street and Fifth Avenue. The National Black Theatre was the sponsoring developer for a 64,000 square feet (5,900 m2) real estate project that became the first revenue-generating Black Theatre Arts Complex in the country.[4]

Personal life

[edit]

Teer had an early marriage to actor Godfrey Cambridge (1962–65). After that union ended, she had two children with Michael Adeyemi Lythcott:[5] Michael F. "Omi" Lythcott and Barbara A. "Sade" Lythcott, CEO of the National Black Theatre.

Teer died in Harlem of natural causes on July 21, 2008, aged 71.[6]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

See also

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Barbara Ann Teer

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Barbara Ann Teer (June 18, 1937 – July 21, 2008) was an American actress, director, producer, educator, and entrepreneur who founded the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York City, in 1968. Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to a family of educators, Teer graduated from the University of Illinois before pursuing acting in New York, where she appeared in off-Broadway productions but grew disillusioned with mainstream theater's portrayal of black characters. She established the National Black Theatre as an institution dedicated to perpetuating African American cultural traditions, developing innovative black aesthetics, and fostering community empowerment through performance rituals such as libation ceremonies aimed at liberating black consciousness. Teer's work positioned her as a key figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, emphasizing and in theater. The National Black Theatre became the first revenue-generating black arts complex in the United States and the longest continuously operating one, expanding under her leadership to include educational programs and multimedia initiatives that sustained black artistic expression amid Harlem's post-riot challenges. Her approach integrated spiritual and therapeutic elements into theater, viewing performance as a tool for healing and empowerment rather than commercial entertainment. Through these efforts, Teer influenced generations of black artists, prioritizing institutional self-sufficiency and cultural authenticity over integration into dominant theater structures.

Early Life and Education

Childhood and Family Background

Barbara Ann Teer was born on June 18, 1937, in , to Fred L. Teer, a teacher, administrator, and Baptist minister, and Lila B. Teer, a administrator. Her parents, both dedicated educators and community leaders, provided a middle-class upbringing in a predominantly Black community marked by Jim Crow-era segregation. Teer was raised in a stable, religious household that emphasized education, , discipline, and as core values. This environment, grounded in her father's ministerial role and her parents' entrepreneurial approach to , fostered practical amid the racial restrictions of the time, without reliance on external integrationist narratives. Her early years exposed her to the realities of systemic segregation in East , an industrial city with pronounced racial divides, shaping a rooted in internal strength rather than victimhood.

Formative Influences and Move to New York

Teer was born on June 18, 1937, in , to Fred L. and Lila B. Teer, both educators and community leaders who prioritized intellectual development and in an all-Black neighborhood. This upbringing instilled a foundation in discipline and cultural awareness, as her parents' roles in local exposed her to efforts addressing community needs through education rather than external dependencies. Demonstrating precocious ability, she graduated from Lincoln High School at age 15, reflecting a focus on accelerated personal advancement over protracted institutional paths. Teer then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, emphasizing practical training in the over theoretical studies, and earned a in dance education magna cum laude at age 19 in 1956. Following this, she sought hands-on expertise by studying the technique with Syvilla Fort and traveling to for further dance instruction, prioritizing skill acquisition through direct immersion in established African American and international traditions. These choices underscored an early orientation toward self-directed mastery, grounded in observable efficacy of for artistic proficiency. In 1959, Teer moved to to establish a professional career in and emerging theatre work, coinciding with escalating civil rights mobilizations that highlighted disparities but also opportunities for independent cultural assertion. Her relocation, rather than remaining in Midwestern academic or community settings, evidenced proactive pursuit of urban hubs teeming with African American innovators, where empirical demands for authentic representation began shaping her rejection of validation-seeking in favor of community-rooted expression. This transition marked a pivotal shift, as interactions in New York's arts milieu revealed the limitations of integrationist models, fostering instead a pragmatic emphasis on internal capacities for cultural sustenance.

Theatrical Career Prior to NBT

Initial Acting and Directing Roles

Barbara Ann Teer relocated to in 1959 to pursue careers in acting, dancing, and directing, securing her Broadway debut as a dancer and dance captain in the 1961 musical Kwamina, choreographed by . Following a injury in 1962 that shifted her focus from dance to acting, she appeared in productions addressing African American experiences, including Raisin' Hell in the Son (1962) and Home Movies (1964), for which she received a Drama Desk Award. Teer continued off-Broadway work with roles in Douglas Turner Ward's Day of Absence (1965) and Who's Got His Own (1966), earning several for distinguished off-Broadway performances during this period. She also returned to Broadway as a cast member in William Inge's Where's Daddy? (1966) and performed in the film adaptation of Ossie Davis's . These engagements established Teer's reputation as a versatile performer in both mainstream and emerging theater addressing themes, with earnings from providing financial support for her independent artistic explorations. While she pursued directing opportunities, including through teaching and workshops that influenced groups like the , no major pre-1968 directing credits in professional productions are documented.

Disillusionment with Mainstream Theatre

During the , Teer experienced firsthand the constraints of mainstream New York theatre, where performers were confined to tokenistic roles that perpetuated negative , such as depicted as prostitutes, maids, matriarchs, or neutral exotics, and men as shuffling Uncle Toms or overly assimilated figures. These portrayals, she argued, stemmed from a systemic exploitation by the white , which selected and isolated a mere handful of actors for limited, demeaning parts, thereby maintaining control over narrative and opportunity. Such practices not only depressed employment prospects for artists but also reinforced a dynamic where authentic cultural expression was subordinated to commercial and ideological demands of integration. Teer's disillusionment crystallized in her July 7, 1968, New York Times article, where she condemned the American theatre's "cancerous, immoral perverseness" for consistently robbing black people of their true culture and redressing them to suit distorted external tastes. She reasoned that integrationist models, far from empowering black artists, compelled them to "negate your blackness" by adopting white values and European theatrical frameworks, leading to a dilution of indigenous African-American rhythms, experiences, and heritage in mixed venues. This causal pattern, observed in the failure of to achieve lasting cultural without independent , highlighted the inefficacy of relying on white gatekeepers, who prioritized superficial inclusion over substantive black . By mid-1968, amid the ascendant era, Teer decisively rejected mainstream theatre's Eurocentric norms, prioritizing uncompromised black expression through self-controlled spaces over continued participation in venues that sustained via and . Her critique underscored empirical limitations: without economic autonomy, black artistic endeavors risked perpetual marginalization, as evidenced by the scant diverse roles available despite prior successes in commercial entertainment. This rupture marked a pivot toward institutions capable of transmitting unaltered cultural truths, free from the performative concessions demanded by integrated but unequal systems.

Founding and Operations of the National Black Theatre

Inception and Core Vision

In 1968, following 's pre-assassination advocacy for the establishment of independent black institutions to foster economic and cultural self-reliance, Barbara Ann Teer founded the National Black Theatre (NBT) in at 2033 , initially utilizing space in a converted three-story jewelry factory. Teer, disillusioned with mainstream theatre's limitations for black expression, sought to create a venue prioritizing black self-sufficiency over reliance on white-controlled subsidies or integrated structures, viewing such dependency as perpetuating psychological subordination. The core vision of NBT centered on ritualistic performance as a mechanism for psychological liberation, drawing from African communal and Pentecostal spontaneity to reject Western theatre's linear, intellectual narratives in favor of visceral, transformative experiences that affirmed black identity and healed . Teer articulated this as developing a distinct African American aesthetic rooted in ancestral traditions, aiming to empower participants through embodied rituals that fostered inner strength and cultural sovereignty rather than passive spectatorship. From inception, NBT pursued sustainability via an entrepreneurial model, generating revenue through audience fees and targeted grants while emphasizing community-driven initiatives to model economic , distinguishing it from grant-dependent peers and enabling focus on artistic . Early rituals and productions, such as experimental works blending movement and invocation, attracted local audiences, building grassroots support without external validation.

Business Model and Real Estate Development

![National Black Theatre building in Harlem, New York](./assets/Harlem_-National_Black_Theater4855531080748555310807 The National Black Theatre (NBT) under Barbara Ann Teer developed a revenue-generating centered on income from theatrical productions, participant-funded workshops, and leasing space to commercial enterprises within its facilities. This strategy positioned NBT as the first Black theater arts complex in the United States to prioritize self-sustaining operations over exclusive dependence on grants or subsidies. By integrating cultural activities with entrepreneurial ventures, Teer aimed to foster economic viability, housing businesses that contributed to the organization's financial base. Following the destruction of its initial venue by fire, NBT acquired a 64,000-square-foot property spanning a at the of 125th Street and in 1983. This purchase marked a pivotal step in , securing outright ownership of prime commercial space and enabling the construction of a multifaceted complex that combined performance spaces with revenue-producing retail and office areas. Teer's approach emphasized strategic property investments to achieve fiscal autonomy, avoiding debt accumulation through targeted funding and partnerships. This model of owned and diversified revenues underpinned NBT's operational endurance, sustaining the institution for over five decades since its founding amid a landscape where many comparable cultural organizations faltered due to funding instability. The emphasis on tangible assets like property ownership demonstrated Teer's commitment to conservative financial practices in institution-building, prioritizing causal factors such as equity control for long-term resilience.

Philosophical Methodology and Programs

Ritualistic and Spiritual Approach

Barbara Ann Teer developed "Liberation Theatre" as a philosophical framework that positioned as a ritualistic vehicle for spiritual and emotional liberation, drawing on African diasporic traditions to counteract the psychological effects of racial . This approach emphasized non-textual, experiential performances designed to release suppressed energies and reclaim ancestral memory, rejecting the linear, intellectual structures of Western in favor of communal rituals that fostered and . Teer's methodology integrated percussive music, spontaneous movement, and elements reminiscent of Pentecostal worship to create immersive events where participants could achieve through direct sensory engagement rather than narrative resolution. Central to her vision was the theatre's role as a spiritual "energy center," where rituals invoked and connected Black audiences to their , enabling resilience through tangible emotional transformation. Teer articulated this in autobiographical recordings like the 1973 Smithsonian Folkways Black Drama, where she described theatre as a non-verbal conduit for Black expression, prioritizing spiritual reconnection over escapist entertainment or superficial political messaging. Such practices, she contended, addressed causal roots of disempowerment by facilitating the elevation of individual and collective spirit, grounded in observable audience responses of release and affirmation. Teer's ritualistic emphasis stemmed from a first-principles recognition that resilience required reclaiming pre-colonial expressive forms—such as rhythmic and communal response—over imported dramatic conventions that often reinforced alienation. This causal orientation viewed not as mere symbolism but as a mechanism for psychological repair, with performances serving as empirical tests of through their capacity to generate profound, shared spiritual upliftment.

Training Initiatives and Community Engagement

Teer initiated training programs at the National Black Theatre shortly after its founding in 1968, focusing on workshops in acting, directing, and playwriting to build performance skills among participants. These sessions, often conducted at low or no cost, drew local residents and emphasized practical instruction through the formation of The Liberators, an ensemble of artists directly trained by Teer to perform and instruct. By the early 1980s, NBT's programs evolved to encompass training alongside artistic development, leveraging the acquisition of a 64,000-square-foot property on 125th Street to incubate black-owned cultural and ventures. This expansion targeted both and adults, providing hands-on sessions to enhance economic participation and within the community. The institution operated a dedicated school for such trainings until a 1986 fire halted operations, though workshops resumed in adapted forms. Community engagement extended through these initiatives by integrating Harlem residents into ongoing sessions that promoted discipline and historical awareness via performance exercises, contributing to the development of local talent pipelines for production. Alumni from these programs formed the basis for subsequent ensembles and independent artistic endeavors, supporting broader involvement in 's cultural economy.

Reception, Impact, and Criticisms

Achievements and Positive Legacy

Barbara Ann Teer was recognized as one of the Mothers of the for her contributions as an award-winning performer, director, and entrepreneur who championed African American cultural expression through theater. She founded the National Black Theatre (NBT) in 1968, establishing the first revenue-generating Black arts complex in the United States, which emphasized financial self-sufficiency and community empowerment via artistic production. Under her leadership, NBT developed a model of black theater ownership that integrated acquisition and development, acquiring an initial 8,000-square-foot property in and later expanding to support ongoing operations and cultural initiatives. The institution's endurance for over 57 years demonstrates Teer's vision of sustainable cultural infrastructure, with NBT investing more than $10 million in over 350 original works by artists and earning accolades such as New York Times Critics' Picks. This longevity has included training programs and community engagement efforts that have influenced generations of artists, contributing to Harlem's economic and artistic fabric through property redevelopment into modern facilities, including a forthcoming 21-story mixed-use building featuring a dedicated theater space. Teer's legacy extended to broader cultural influence, exemplified by high-profile endorsements such as Beyoncé's sampling of Teer's speech on Black theater uniqueness in the 2022 track "Alien Superstar" from the album Renaissance, highlighting NBT's role in preserving and exporting African American performative traditions. Following Teer's death in 2008, her daughter Sade Lythcott assumed leadership, ensuring continuity and securing honors like an OBIE Award for sustained excellence, which affirm the institution's enduring impact on self-reliant Black arts models.

Controversies Over Separatism and Effectiveness

Teer's rejection of mainstream integration in favor of cultural positioned the National Black Theatre as a deliberate counter to what she described as white-controlled theatre's stereotypical portrayals and , advocating instead for black artists to create independent standards of beauty, morality, and expression rooted in innate cultural rhythms. This stance, emphasizing separation to liberate black psyches from perceived , drew criticism for veering into racial by positing fixed, inherent black aesthetics that sidelined individual variation and universal artistic merit in favor of group-specific rituals. Critics contended that such , while aimed at , risked entrenching division by framing white influence as inherently corrosive, potentially discouraging crossover opportunities essential for wider validation and economic viability. Theatrical commentator lambasted subsidized in black arts institutions, arguing it fostered parallel, insulated ecosystems that evaded rigorous competition and diluted creative excellence, ultimately hindering black artists' integration into national dialogues rather than building sustainable . Empirical assessments of separatist models underscore these concerns: while the NBT sustained community-based operations and ownership, its ritual-focused output yielded negligible mainstream transfers or national accolades, contrasting sharply with integrationist precedents where black talents accessed larger markets, as evidenced by sustained economic gains in mixed institutions over isolated ones. Defenders, including Teer's daughter Sade Lythcott, countered that separatism delivered tangible psychological uplift through self-affirmation and cultural reclamation, enabling the NBT's evolution into a revenue-generating entity amid adversity. Yet, longitudinal data on analogous black separatist ventures reveal causal limitations, with resource scarcity and market isolation often perpetuating grievance cycles over scalable prosperity, as seen in declining all-black municipalities like , where initial autonomy gave way to depopulation and fiscal collapse by the late . These patterns suggest that while separatism offered short-term communal cohesion, it underdelivered on broad assimilation benefits, prompting ongoing debates about prioritizing internal validation versus external achievement metrics.

Personal Life and Death

Relationships and Family

Teer was married to actor from 1962 to 1965. Following the end of that marriage, she had two children with Michael Adeyemi Lythcott: a son, Michael F. "Omi" Lythcott, a graduate of the and , and a daughter, Barbara A. "Sade" Lythcott. Her daughter Sade Lythcott assumed leadership of the National Black Theatre upon Teer's death, continuing the institution's operations and community programs. Teer regarded the community as an network, fostering deep personal bonds that supported her professional endeavors while she balanced maternal responsibilities. No significant public controversies or scandals emerged from her family life, which remained oriented toward intergenerational transmission of cultural and artistic values.

Final Years and Passing

Barbara Ann Teer remained actively involved with the National Black Theatre in her later years, continuing to advocate for Black artistic institutions amid ongoing challenges in funding and visibility. As late as May 18, 2008, she participated in a organized by the Coalition of Theatres of Color at the Little Shubert Theatre, where she addressed issues of grants, media coverage, and support for Black theater productions. Her leadership sustained the theater's role as a community hub for rituals, workshops, and performances rooted in African spiritual traditions, even as she navigated the physical and financial demands of maintaining the Harlem facility she had expanded decades earlier. Teer died on July 21, 2008, at her home in , New York, at the age of 71, from natural causes, as confirmed by her daughter, Sade Lythcott. She was survived by her two children: son Michael F. Lythcott, a graduate of the and , and daughter Sade Lythcott. A memorial service was held on July 28, 2008, at The in , drawing a large community procession that incorporated theatrical elements reflective of Teer's life work, including a horse-drawn carriage for her casket. The event underscored her enduring influence as a cultural and spiritual figure in , with participants honoring her through rituals and public tributes.

References

  1. https://nationalblacktheatre.org/our-founder/
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/theater/25teer.html
  3. https://lannan.georgetown.edu/past-guests/barbara-ann-teer/
  4. https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/barbara-ann-teer-40
  5. https://nationalblacktheatre.org/mission/
  6. https://www.americantheatre.org/2020/04/10/barbara-ann-teer-was-unapologetically-black/
  7. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jul-27-me-passings27.s3-story.html
  8. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0014747/bio/
  9. https://www.officerfh.com/obituary/5574336
  10. https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/harlems-barbara-ann-teer-writer-teacher-and-founder-of-the-nations-first-revenue-generating-black-theater-arts-complex/
  11. https://www.harlem-is.org/legacy-keepers/barbara-ann-teer
  12. https://nypost.com/2008/09/15/dr-barbara-ann-teer-a-life-lived-free-open-and-black/
  13. https://routes-mag.com/barbara-ann-teers-nbt-russian-partnership/
  14. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0014747/
  15. https://time.com/archive/6685785/milestones-373/
  16. https://www.nytimes.com/1968/07/07/archives/-we-can-be-what-we-were-born-to-be-we-can-be-what-we-were-born-to.html
  17. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/sep/27/national-black-theatre-new-york-expansion
  18. https://www.vogue.com/article/national-black-theatre-ray-harlem-project-2024
  19. https://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Teer-National-Black-Theatre/dp/0815329202
  20. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/103866?show=full
  21. https://www.facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings/videos/barbara-ann-teer-black-theater/964737538619765/
  22. https://playbill.com/article/memorial-for-barbara-ann-teer-founder-of-national-black-theatre-set-for-july-28-com-151952
  23. https://www.americantheatre.org/2022/01/20/know-a-theatre-national-black-theatre/
  24. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bs6rh
  25. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-african-american-theatre/african-american-performance-and-community-engagement/A75092B3C613C2B8F9A58D872BDD2630
  26. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315805245/barbara-ann-teer-national-black-theatre-winona-fletcher-lundeana-marie-thomas
  27. https://folkways.si.edu/black-drama-with-barbara-ann-teer-and-charlie-l-russell/african-american-spoken-drama/album/smithsonian
  28. https://humanities-arts-media.hastac.hcommons.org/2024/05/03/i-know-ive-been-changed-the-liberatory-potential-of-conjure-art/
  29. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/fronjwomestud.36.1.0136
  30. https://raintaxi.com/black-theatre-ritual-performance-in-the-african-diaspora/
  31. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/the-national-black-theatre-workshop-inc-150926/
  32. https://www.cityandstateny.com/personality/2024/11/building-community-focused-arts-mecca-harlem/401000/
  33. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/theater/national-black-theater-dasha-zhukova.html
  34. https://www.essence.com/entertainment/beyonce-renaissance-samples/
  35. https://nationalblacktheatre.org/staff/sade-lythcott/
  36. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jerylbrunner/2023/12/14/with-legions-of-fans-like-beyonc-and-alicia-keys-the-national-black-theatre-has-thrived-for-more-than-50-years/
  37. https://www.americantheatre.org/1996/10/01/subsidized-separatism-responses-to-the-ground-on-which-i-stand/
  38. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3891045
  39. https://theartistsforum.org/features-obituary-dr-barbara-ann-teer/
  40. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/nyregion/29funeral.html
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.