Uprooted: American History Through Jazz Dance

The history of jazz dance is the history of America.

That history is not well documented, however, especially when it comes to the leading role played by African Americans.

In Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance, filmmakers Khadifa Wong and Zak Nemorin trace jazz dance back to its roots in Africa, and follow its evolution up to the present.

Along the way Khadifa and Zack address difficult subjects such as appropriation, racism and sexism within this quintessential American art form, and in the process shine a light on this chapter in America’s history.

But in the end, their film is a celebration of this most human of art forms, where as they say, “what all people have in common is rhythm and a basic human need to get down”. “

Whether it was jazz, whether it’s hip hop, there are cultures that step out of oppression, and out of wanting to speak out, and jazz dance was just an iteration of that.” – Khadifa Wong