The Spirit moves: jazz dance from turn of the century 'til 1950 | Mura Dehn | ACMI collection

Filmed over 30 years in the director’s dance studio and in the Harlem Savoy Ballroom “The Spirit Moves” is a unique assembly of jazz routines, through the development of the art. From ragtime, struts, cakewalk, through blues, bebop to calypso, mambo and rock and roll. Performed by the artists of the Savioy Ballroom of Harlem and narrated by Mura Dehn. Filmed in black and white with final 15 minute segment in colour.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer

Mura Dehn

production company

Dehn and Matter

Duration

01:58:00:00

Production places

United States

Production dates

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

016347

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - United States

Feature films

Feature films → Feature films - United States

Music & Performing Arts → Bop (Music)

Music & Performing Arts → Calypso (Music)

Music & Performing Arts → Dance music

Music & Performing Arts → Dancers

Music & Performing Arts → Dancing - United States

Music & Performing Arts → Jazz dance

Places → Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/77929--the-spirit-moves-jazz-dance-from-turn-of-the-century-til-1950/ |title=The Spirit moves: jazz dance from turn of the century 'til 1950 |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=27 April 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}