Pinellas Artist Impact Grant 2025 Honoring the Roots: Our Journey Through the African Origins of Jazz

Funded by the Pinellas Artist Impact Grant

We’re proud to share that we’ve been awarded the Pinellas Artist Impact Grant—a powerful opportunity that supports our mission to tell stories rooted in cultural truth, historical accuracy, and artistic reverence. With this grant, we’re diving deep into a vital narrative: tracing the African origins of jazz through rigorous research, embodied study, and original dance-based storytelling.

So far, this journey has taken us across continents, centuries, and spiritual planes. We’ve read deeply from historical and cultural texts, viewed three illuminating documentaries, and physically studied three distinct Afro-Cuban dance forms. We’ve explored Ring Shout rituals, call-and-response traditions, the integration of drum, dance, and song in spiritual practice, and the powerful resilience of African cultural expression in the Americas.

Our research has followed the migration of African and African American people before, during, and after slavery—mapping the survival and transformation of African spiritualism, musical instruments, and dance traditions. We’ve traced how these expressions evolved through syncretism and the Christianization of enslaved Africans, forming the foundations of what we now know as African American music and culture—particularly jazz.

This work will culminate in the production of an original dance film—a visual tribute that brings to life the rhythms, stories, and sacred lineage of African diasporic movement and sound. This is more than an art piece; it's a reclamation, a remembering, and a celebration of the Black cultural brilliance that birthed jazz.

Special shoutout to our lead videographer and creative partner, Kanica Him, who did an outstanding job developing the grant proposal and crafting the vision that made this project possible. Her attention to cultural detail and passion for community-centered storytelling continue to move this project forward with integrity and fire.

We invite you to support this work—donate to help us bring this story to the screen, and keep an eye out for our film release and community screening events. Your support ensures that our cultural history is not only preserved, but honored through performance, research, and education.

Be sure to explore our other upcoming projects, where we continue to use dance, film, and media to build legacy, amplify marginalized voices, and create unforgettable art.

Love ya'll...

Dance People.