It was a night of love and appreciation for the origin story of house music and the filmmakers who brought it back to light.
Director Elegance Bratton tells the often-unrecognized origins of the global house music movement. In “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” audiences are brought into the underground dance clubs of the South Side of Chicago where Black and queer communities pioneered a new sound of disco, giving birth to house.
“The founders of house music, the creators of house music, have been forgotten, and their music co-opted, and now EDM, all of that comes from house music,” said Executive Producer Roger Ross Williams in an interview with Annenberg Media.
Along with sit-down interviews with figures across Chicago’s house scene, the documentary follows music producer Vince Lawrence as he explains how he and his friends created the first recorded house song, “On & On” by Jesse Saunders.
“It was transformational for me to get to work with Vince and tell the history of house music because I’m one of those people that believes that, quote, unquote, ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” said Bratton in an interview with Annenberg Media.
The film opens on b-roll of Chicago with the city name in large yellow print across the screen. As soon as the words appeared, a loud cheer was heard across the crowd. Chicago is as much of a character in the documentary as the interview subjects.
“Honestly, it was a story of all the people in Chicago. One of the main characters in the film is Chicago, and I think Chicago is the main character because all of our participants represent the history which has built the city that we know today,” producer Chester Algernal Gordon told Annenberg Media. “And I think that’s what drew me to it, is being able to tell their story and tell the story of a great American city.”
Through archival footage and re-enactments, audiences are thrust into the energy of the underground dance clubs of 1980s Chicago. The disco scene is brought to life. After all, it isn’t called “Move Ya Body” for no reason.
“Disco was the first time you saw democracy on the dance floor,” said Darlene Jackson, also known as DJ Lady D, during a sit-down interview in the film. The documentary talks of these dance clubs as a safe space, welcome to everyone. This is set against the very different circumstances of Mayor Richard Daley’s segregated Chicago.
To depict these time’s in Lawrence’s youth, Bratton chose to create re-enactments. “When I hear a story, you don’t ever see stuff about Black boys in Chicago who are making music together, who are not committing crimes. A lot of times the story is just very much baked in that Black boys from the ghetto have nothing to offer,” said Bratton. “So I wanted to reenact those moments from Vince’s youth because I feel like people need to see that. People need to know that this is possible. Literally, hang out with your friends, get some instruments and you can change the world.”
It all started over a summer when he found a synthesizer, which he’d eventually strap around his neck and create Chicago’s first house band, Z Factor. Lawrence began Trax Records and sold house records which were played at dance clubs, such as The Warehouse, championing this new sound of house. “The term house came from “The Warehouse” explained DJ Celeste Alexander. This genre would move from the dance clubs to a global movement across today’s music industry.
“This film aims to shine a light on the pioneers of house music—individuals from various backgrounds who have shaped a vibrant part of American culture. They may not always be recognized, but their impact is profound. It matters where music comes from and who creates it,” said Bratton in his director’s statement. “Today, we face challenges that threaten to silence voices once more. ‘Move Ya Body’ shows that you don’t have to be famous to make a mark on the world.”
The film comes to a poignant end as Lawrence walks up to his younger self, the version in his reenactments, at a DJ booth.
“I would say that in the world where it might feel like there are a lot of oppressive forces, that you can be your own light. You can be your own beacon,” said Jackson. “You can take that energy or create something that changes the world and that’s what we did in Chicago in the ‘80s and so I’d say be inspired!”
As Lawrence and Bratton came to the front of the stage for the Q&A portion the two embraced to the loud standing ovation of the entire crowd. “Thank you,” said Bratton. “Thank YOU,” yelled many crowd members back.
“People ask me what do I expect, what do I want from this film?,” said Lawrence in the post-premiere Q&A. “And I said to myself that what I hoped the film would do was create a space where I got to be the person that I needed. And it seems like that’s happening.”