“Move” is about dancers, yes, but it is not about dance. It is not a retrospective history of the art, nor about the technical aspects of each discipline it portrays. “Move” instead tells the story of many cultures through the lens of dance.
Each episode of the Netflix docuseries concerns a different aspect of the human experience: rising through oppression, working through pain, subverting social expectations and finding sexual empowerment. It is about the context in which artists across the world have come into their form of dance and how that form exists in their culture.
“Move” consists of five separate chapters, each highlighting one or two figureheads in their respective styles: street dance, Gaga, flamenco, Jamaican dancehall and contemporary Kathak. More than the dance itself, the creators of “Move” were concerned with providing a rich experience of the culture these dancers exist in. Intimate visuals of cities like Tel Aviv, Israel, and Kingston, Jamaica, give the audience a strong sense of place — of the setting that has shaped a dancer’s particular style. For example, the documentary shows how the fierce political divide in Israel shapes Ohad Naharin’s method of movement that seeks to set the body free.
The most vibrant episode features Kimiko Versatile, a Jamaican dancehall artist. The episode centers itself in the colorful but poverty-stricken streets of Kingston, where dancehall has emerged as a form of artistic resistance, much like reggae before it. Dancehall was once a historically male form of dance, but in recent years, dancers like Kumiko have subverted this idea, transitioning the form toward femininity. Her movement is grounded and intense, but simultaneously sensual and fluid, showing that feminine dance is powerful in its own right.
While the episode does show the technical aspects of how women perform dancehall, the story is really about how women in poor areas have found economic independence by dancing in a way that embraces her feminine power.
Other episodes also deal with the idea of subverting expectations. One profiles Israel Galván of Seville, Spain, who was considered to be one of the most gifted Flamenco dancers in the world and has caused great controversy for defying gender norms. Another episode episode deals with American street dancers Jon Boogz and Lil Buck who take inspiration from ballet and perform to classical music. In many cases, this subversion is directly related to political happenings in the places where the dancers are from.
Another central theme of the series takes the form of a question, “Is this form of dance fine art?” Almost every episode explicitly and implicitly draws a comparison between the represented form of dance and ballet, which is the most well-known form of concert dance across the world, and widely considered to be “high art.” In the first episode, street dancer Jon Boogz says his mission is to show the world that street dance is fine art. Upon seeing the world of discipline and artistry that goes into popping, most audiences will agree that he succeeded.
“Move” shows that like any other art, dance is an exploration. It is an exploration of community, of gender, of self. While “Move” does a fantastic job of exemplifying the purpose of dance, it shines the most when it shows uninterrupted shots of its ultra-talented subjects moving in space. In those moments, the audience can really see why dance has the power to challenge preconceived ideas of art.
