Akwaaba Dance Project
Where sacred dance, ancestral memory and storytelling keep the circle unbroken.
Ringshout: Let the Circle Be Unbroken
Synoposis
Ring Shout: Let the Circle Be Unbroken is an intimate personal odyssey of a New York City teacher on a worldwide journey to document the influence of African culture on the dances of its descendants in the diaspora, and how this often hidden but profound connection shapes identity, rootedness, ancestral memory, and cultural resistance—even in the face of attempts to erase Africa’s identity, knowledge, and roots during the Middle Passage.
Her exploration of dances that retained African traditions led her to the Ring Shout, an age-old praise dance rooted in African spiritual practices, where she uncovered the deepest ties to her own African-American cultural heritage. This journey brought her to a rural Georgia museum, where she discovered her Gullah Geechee roots and a long-lost branch of her family. There, she must decide whether to honor her elder cousin’s dying wish and carry his legacy forward, embracing the responsibility of preserving these vanishing traditions. Through dance, memory, and the voices of tradition-bearers, the film illuminates the resilience of African cultural practices and the unbroken circle that binds Africa and its children across generations and oceans
Through dance, memory, and the voices of tradition-bearers, the film illuminates the resilience of African cultural practices and the unbroken circle that binds Africa and its children across generations and oceans.
Key Guides
Jim Bacote II
Jim Bacote is a guiding force at the heart of Ring Shout: Let the Circle Be Unbroken. A visionary cultural preservationist and founder of the Geechee Kunda Cultural Center, he was also the director’s long-lost cousin—discovered during her search to document the Ring Shout. Descended from a branch of the Bacote family separated during segregation and forced migration, Jim helped director Olubayo Jackson understand the depth of her Gullah Geechee identity and the responsibility it carries: to recognize African Americans as African people with an American experience, deeply rooted in African culture and worthy of preservation, study, and transmission.
Brought together by ancestral timing just before his cancer diagnosis, their meeting created a profound urgency around the work. As Olubayo committed to making the film, Jim helped shape its direction from his sickbed at Geechee Kunda—opening the museum’s archives, reconnecting her to the Ring-Shouters, and guiding community members to share their stories on camera so this legacy would endure. Before his passing, he named Olubayo Geechee Kunda’s International Cultural Ambassador, reminding her that Geechee Kunda does not live within four walls, but within those who carry it forward.
The film continues that charge by preserving Jim Bacote’s legacy in digital form for future generations.
Pat Bacote, his wife, continues to preserve and carry forward his legacy.