Ida Rosenstein
If you’ve ever seen someone playing an instrument in a local park or singing on the subway with a hat passed around for tips, then you’ve seen a busker! Street performance has been a significant aspect of the arts community for ages: it provides audiences with free entertainment and the ability to support local artists in rejuvenating public spaces. From medieval minstrels to genre-defining artists, street performers have always shared their talents. Eventually, after decades of entertainment, performing publicly for gratuities came to be known as “busking.”
The term “busk” has origins from the Spanish word buscar, “to seek or to wander.” While the term didn’t officially appear until the mid-1800s, busking has existed for centuries in many different forms. Before it was possible to record music, street performance was one of the few ways that musicians could earn income from their work. In fact, busking dates as far back as ancient Rome. Musicians and actors were abundant on the everyday streets as well as during festivals. Lyrical competitions were also popular — antiquity’s equivalent of a rap battle. However, the status of these performers was considered low class: excessive and vulgar. Frequently, routines consisted of strong criticism and mockery directed at different politicians and public figures which was a dangerous challenge to the dominant culture. Just take a look at the Roman law code, The Twelve Tables, that declares: “If anyone sings or composes an incantation that can cause dishonor or disgrace to another… he shall suffer a capital penalty.”
During the Middle Ages, low-born minstrels traveled from city-to-city transmitting secular song, dance, and lore throughout Europe – the purveyors of popular culture. As they weren’t a part of any particularly defined social class, minstrels often exchanged their talents for money, food, and shelter while on the road and, sometimes, were employed more permanently by nobility or churches. Troubadours played a similar role in medieval society but bore higher ranks than those of minstrels. They composed their own music, mainly courtly love songs, and performed only for nobility rather than the general public as well. These performers spread not only art but knowledge and news as well. Their travels familiarized them with the goings-on of various regions and allowed them to share entertainment from different cultures with Europe.
In the 1800s, street performance in the American colonies flourished. Circus acts, musicians, dancers, magicians, and ventriloquists filled the streets and would come to greatly influence the widely popular vaudeville genre. Medicine shows were especially popular at this time: touring wagons peddled various “cure-alls” and elixirs in between smaller performances of songs, dances, or skits. These shows were frequently free but still able to turn a profit thanks to the grandiose presentation of the product. Busking continued to burgeon when the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment passed, protecting freedom of speech and ability to assemble. Even Benjamin Franklin used this opportunity to busk! He sang on the streets and sold broadsides of his own: pamphlets containing political views or current news in the form of ballads.
Busking was not limited to the western world however! In Japan, marching bands or, chindon’ya, is a type of advertising that bears some resemblance to busking. Chindon’ya began in 1845 and is still sometimes practiced today. Troupes of performers in elaborate costumes parade through the streets with banners, drums, and woodwind instruments to promote businesses and sales events. The word “chindon” comes from the onomatopoeia terms, “chin” and “don,” that the instruments make.
Another example is the folk theatre form, Bhavai. Bhavai comes from western India and is mainly performed in Gujarat. The performance consists of simple skits with musical and dance interludes. Historically, the Bhavaiya, the performing troupes, consisted entirely of men but today, the community is open to all genders. Traditionally, the Bhavaiya were financially supported by the villages that they entertained. Bhavai is known for its bawdy humor and criticism of social issues, particularly India’s caste system.
The late 1800s and 1900s introduced the street organ to the busking scene. The people who performed with these instruments were called organ grinders and often played accompanied by a dancing monkey. The organ grinder would briefly perform in a public space, his monkey would dance and collect the tips from passersby, and then they would move onto the next area so as not to get arrested for loitering. Organ grinders unfortunately had somewhat of a negative reputation among authorities due to the fact that many of them were working class immigrants: this xenophobia combined with complaints of the noise led to several laws that restricted street music or required licenses to perform. In 1864, London passed a law heavily limiting street music and in 1935, New York outright banned street music. Even before the ban was finally lifted in 1970, people found ways to challenge the regulation and keep busking alive.
Looking at busking in modern history, a particular variation emerged in the 1960s – largely as a part of the hippie movement. As both a form of activism and a celebration of life, the 1967 Human Be-In, a public gathering of musicians and counterculture speakers, kickstarted the Summer of Love phenomenon that brought hippie culture and free love into the limelight. Similar free music festivals with the option of tipping the performers followed. With the advent of the internet, cyber busking is one of the most recent variations of busking. Performers will upload or stream videos of themselves online and solicit donations through platforms like Paypal. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Berkshire Busk! emerged as an event that allowed the arts community to continue to safely share their craft and connect with others. Through cyber-busking and festivals, street performance provided an avenue for people to engage with and support their communities after a long period of isolation. Nowadays, busking continues to liven up cities and provide people with free entertainment. Many famous artists began their careers through street performance, including: Louis Armstrong, Passenger (Mike Rosenberg), Janis Joplin, and Ed Sheeran.
And the range of acts today remains just as vibrant. Prominent busking locations, such as London’s Covent Garden and Boston’s Faneuil Hall, boast increasingly creative performers. Alongside more traditional circus, music, and dance acts, Covent Garden’s website displays unique acts such as UV body paint artists, extreme stuntmen, a bubble-machine biker, and even a rubix cube artist. Similarly, Faneuil Hall regularly features an escape artist and an electric violinist! Thanks to street performance, public spaces remain alive and lively for everyone. Busking makes the arts accessible to everyone, no matter their income or lifestyle, and helps performers to build audiences and gain exposure.
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