Listening Before the Lens: How Dance to the Beat Began

When I completed my short documentary Mr. Gele: The Man. The Story. The Craft. in 2017, I felt both fulfilled and restless. The film traveled to festivals, found an audience, and eventually landed on Amazon Prime — experiences that affirmed my voice as a storyteller. But once that chapter closed, a familiar question returned:

What story do I tell next?

I didn’t rush to answer it.

In 2020, during a time of global stillness, dance became my grounding force. Afro dance workouts were simply a way to move my body and stay connected — until I began noticing something deeper. Dancers were creating challenges and viral movements that were pushing Afrobeats music across borders and into global consciousness.

Dance was the bridge.

Yet the dancers themselves were rarely centered.

That realization stayed with me, and almost immediately, I reached out to a close friend and film  producer, Pris Nzimiro Nwanah, a lover of dance and culture, to share what I was seeing. I didn’t have a full plan yet, just a strong feeling that something important was unfolding.

Together, we began conducting Zoom conversations with dancers during the pandemic. Those conversations changed everything. What we heard went far beyond choreography or social media trends. We learned about history, lineage, labor, community, and the emotional weight of being culture drivers without protection or recognition.

Afro dance revealed itself to be far bigger than either of us had imagined.

From those early conversations, Dance to the Beat took shape, not as a reactionary film, but as a thoughtful, intentional documentary rooted in listening. We structured the film around eight chapters, inspired by the eight count in dance, a rhythm that grounds movement while allowing expression.

Some of those chapters explore:

• The evolution of Afro dance

• The rise of social media and viral culture

• The game changers

• The challenges dancers face

• The tension between pioneers and new influencers

• The future of the Afrobeats dance movement

  
  

Although the idea was born in 2020, this has never been a rushed project. We spent years in development and pre-production, ensuring that trust, care, and integrity guided the process. In 2022, we began filming and what we’ve captured so far has only deepened our commitment to this story.

Today, Dance to the Beat is in an active fundraising phase. Through Seed&Spark, we’re raising funds to continue filming and move into post-production. This project is a labor of love — one driven by responsibility to the community it represents. My hope is that this film doesn’t just document Afro dance, but honors it. That it centers dancers as cultural architects. That it becomes a record, a mirror, and a celebration of a movement that deserves to be preserved.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for believing in the power of dance. And thank you for moving with us.

By

Gladys Edeh

Producer, Director, Dance to the Beat Film