"Uprooted" Documentary Explores the Complex Roots and Branches of Jazz Dance
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Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance is a new documentary by Khadifa Wong that explores the complex history, influences, and current place of jazz dance in America. As a lindy hopper and vernacular jazz dancer, I was excited to see this film, if only to understand this larger world of “jazz dance” that I know very little about.
The documentary smartly begins with trying to define what jazz dance is: “a hodgepodge,” “the art created by enslaved people,” “the bastard child of dance,” say a bunch of talking heads to the camera. Then we are taken back to the roots of jazz dance, all the way back to Africa and the dance forms practiced by different peoples who were then enslaved and brought to the Americas. We move forward in time to an examination of how enslaved Africans used dance as a form of resistance, such as the Cakewalk.
“Say where you got this stuff from. And if you aren’t sure, investigate and do the research. In the same way that no one owns jazz, no one is making up anything that didn’t come from someplace. Part of why our history is not understood is because we don’t attribute. We don’t call back to what came before.”
Lindy hoppers will particularly appreciate the section on the Harlem Renaissance and the Savoy Ballroom as a place where Black dance was celebrated, and curious whites came uptown to experience it first hand. Sadly none of the original Savoy dancers were interviewed for this project. But you do see brief depictions of lindy hop from Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and others.
I enjoyed the examination of how jazz dance is related to ballet, contemporary, tap, and hip-hop. How jazz music and jazz dance are intimately connected is also discussed, although that history does not go further than the bebop era, which I thought was telling. “The music and the dance went their separate ways,” one of the historians says, with no explanation.
There is a long section on the various “founding fathers” of jazz dance, all white men including Bob Fosse, Jack Cole, and Matt Maddox. But this is interrupted by a counter-narrative on how Black and women dancers are too often left out of those histories. And how if we don’t include those innovators, we are telling an incomplete story. I was particularly thrilled to see Savoy lindy hopper Pepsi Bethel get some attention and focus.
Overall I found the documentary really compelling and informative. I really appreciated the focus on Black perspectives and narratives. And seeing the complex connections among the different dance forms was eye-opening. Moncel Durden is of course always a joy to learn from.
On the negative side, there was, weirdly, not enough dancing. Too much time was spent watching various dancers and historians talking to the camera, and not enough showing of actual dance.
And there was very little screen time devoted to lindy hop or vernacular jazz / charleston. I wish they had interviewed at least one lindy hop pioneer to complete the picture of how swing is connected to the larger jazz dance field.
Overall, there’s a lot that dancers of all styles can learn from Uprooted that can deepen their appreciation for jazz dance, and the foundations that go all the way back to Africa.
Uprooted is currently circulating in the film festival circuit. See their website for screening opportunities.
