If you look at the history of African-Americans, you will see that we have a history of creating extraordinary artistic and cultural expressions out of adversity and pain. Soul food, gospel music, jazz and hip-hop all were created out of the African-American experience - not to mention the huge debt that rock-n-roll owes to the blues. Yet, when people, including many African-Americans, look back on our past, we tend to see only the strife and remember only the pain. Even in present times, we tend to emphasis the negatives over the positives. Of course, it's important to address our issues and confront our problems  but we also need to spotlight the good and the positive as well. Rize attempts to do just that.

Acclaimed photographer and music video director, Dave LaChapelle (he's worked on videos for Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, No Doubt and Macy Gray) takes his crew to South Central Los Angeles to explore the new dance forms of clowning and krumping. Tommy Johnson (a.k.a. Tommy the Clown) created clowning in response to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. But for the clowners and krumpers, this is more than just a creative outlet, much like hip-hop, it has become a way of life - giving them direction and a much needed sense of community. It's become a way to channel their energy and their creativity positively, often acting as an alternative to drugs and gangs. The dance itself is unbelievably fast; so much so that LaChapelle places a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie telling people upfront that none of the dance moves have been sped up or altered.

Rize is visually incredible and a beautifully shot film. LaChapelle is also a noted still photographer and his dramatic use of color and composition make the dancers look even more surreal. But LaChapelle is trying to do something deeper. He starts off with footage from the Watts riots (in the mid 60's), then the Rodney King riots of 1992. This is a dance form born out of frustration, anger and violence. And you also get the impression that if not for clowning and krumping, many of the kids featured in Rize might be headed for a future directed by that frustration, anger and violence. But like the generations before then, they have taken the hopelessness and pain and created something new, innovative and powerful.

The dancing itself is mesmerizing - fast, aggressive, sensual. The dancers are captivating - athletic, energized and animated. Rightly so, LaChapelle spends the majority of the time on the dance and the dancers. He also shows us some striking parallels between the clowning and krumping and traditional African dances. Having said that, I would have liked to have learned a little more about the early days of clowning (what can I say, I'm a history buff).

I highly recommend Rize. It is in limited release but it's worth the effort to find a theatre that is showing it.