Move Ya Body: The Birth of House

Move Ya Body: The Birth of House traces the origins of house music through the life of Vince Lawrence, who recorded the first house track following the infamous racist attack of “Disco Demolition Night” in 1979 Chicago. For Vince, the same oppressive forces that tried to silence disco, and later house, sought to confine him as a young Black man living in a segregated city.

Blending archival footage, re-creations, and interviews director Elegance Bratton explores how house music emerged as both cultural expression and political resistance–born in defiantly, joyfully queer, Black, and brown spaces. The film affirms the origins of house in a radical movement of joy, unity, and defiance. Centering Black bodies in motion as resistance, Move Ya Body captures house music’s evolution from its roots as an underground movement to the global phenomenon it has become today.

Followed by a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers.

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Screening in-person only.