Reviews
Breakdance, Ugandan Style: Bouncing Cats
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“Bouncing Cats”, a documentary directed by Nabil Elderkin and sponsored by Breakdance Project Uganda (B.P.U), chronicles B.P.U.’s efforts to use hip-hop, specifically, breakdancing, in order to help inspire and motivate children living in one of the worst places on Earth. Abramz, leader of Breakdance Project Uganda, allows the camera to follow him throughout the region while he holds seminars, workshops, and interviews with some of the children whose lives he has changed. Crazy Legs, founder of the venerable and venerated Rock Steady Crew, joins Elderkin and Abramz on their journey.
“Bouncing Cats” boasts plenty of star power. Common narrates, while Will.I.Am and Mos Def, among others are interviewed throughout the film. The film is strongest when it focuses on the children of Uganda and the mission of B.P.U. Unfortunately, the interviews and the history lesson too often obscure the documentary’s supposed focus.
Political upheaval and war have greatly harmed the Ugandan people. Since the 1990s, thousands of Ugandans have been killed or displaced due to various conflicts in the region. Mass murder, mass rape, and child slavery have become far too common occurrences.
Abramz founded B.P.U. in 2006 in an effort to combat and mitigate many of these negative forces. By using elements of hip-hop to affect positive social change, Breakdance Project Uganda’s ultimate aim is to bridge the areas of conflict that have divided this nation for many years. Widespread and demoralizing poverty, illiteracy, and a completely frayed social safety net have combined to create some of the most deplorable living conditions on the planet. B.P.U. stands in stark rebuke to this reality. The empowerment of these Ugandan youths is indeed inspirational and speaks volumes about the resiliency of the human spirit.
Unfortunately, the pat history lessons and generally unenlightening interviews by the hip-hop stars add little to this moving story. These scenes feel clinical and too far removed from the harsh realities on the ground. While these moments are distracting, watching Crazy Legs’ transformation provides some of the strongest segments in the film.
In many ways, his dawning awareness mirrors that of the viewer and provides a useful way to process the horrors on screen. His realization that not all ghettos are the same allows him and the viewer, to not only grasp the depth of deprivation and poverty that must be overcome, but also highlights the heroic work that Abramz and B.P.U. are doing.
That alone makes “Bouncing Cats” a must-see documentary.
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