If you're a fan of Spirit of Uganda, then you'll also love the film "WAR/DANCE". This incredible film — nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature — does an amazing job of telling the story of children affected by the war in Northern Uganda. "WAR/DANCE" follows the lives of three extraordinary children, focusing on their involvement in music and dance classes at a camp for people displaced by the war. Their talent earns them an unlikely invitation to participate in the musical and dance competition held in Uganda's capital of Kampala.
Most of the children in Spirit of Uganda — Empower African Children's dance troupe — are very similar to the children in "WAR/DANCE" in that they have tragically lost parents or relatives. For families in the southern part of Uganda, though, it's not war but AIDS that's ravaging communities and orphaning young children. This is significantly different from the trauma of child soldiers and rebel warfare, but the loss of one or both parents is obviously damaging to the psyche of a child regardless of the cause.
A universal theme — the power of music to overcome tragedy — links our dance group together with the dancers in the film. "WAR/DANCE" does an outstanding job of portraying the importance of music to give the children an outlet, a voice, and way of expressing themselves. In fact, I'd go so far as to say this: Once you see WAR/DANCE, you'll look never look at the children who perform in Spirit of Uganda the same way.
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